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EVIDENCE 


AS  TO 


MAN'S  PLACE  IN  NATURE 


BY 

THOMAS  H.  HUXLEY,  F.R.S.,  F.L.S., 

PEOFESSOE  or  NATUBAL  HISTOKY  IN  THE  JEBHTN  STREET  SCHOOL  OF  MINES. 


NEW    YORK: 
D.    APPLETON    AND    COMPANY, 

1,    3,    AND    5    BOND    STREET. 
1886. 


138172 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGB 

I. — ON  THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE  MAN-LIKE  APES,  .  9 
II. — ON  THE  RELATIONS  OF  MAN  TO  THE  LOWER  ANIMALS,  .  71 
in. — ON  SOME  FOSSIL  REMAINS  OF  MAN,  .  .  .  .139 


ADVERTISEMENT   TO  THE  READER. 

THE  greater  part  of  the  substance  of  the  following 
Essays  has  already  been  published  in  the  form  of  Oral 
Discourses,  addressed  to  widely  different  audiences,  dur- 
ing the  past  three  years. 

Upon  the  subject  of  the  second  Essay,  I  delivered  six 
Lectures  to  the  AYorking  Men  in  1860,  and  two,  to  the 
members  of  the  Philosophical  Institution  of  Edinburgh  in 
1862.  The  readiness  with  which  my  audience  followed 
my  arguments,  on  these  occasions,  encourages  me  to  hope 
that  I  have  not  committed  the  error,  into  which  working 
men  of  science  so  readily  fall,  of  obscuring  my  meaning 
by  unnecessary  technicalities :  while,  the  length  of  the 
period  during  which  the  subject,  under  its  various  aspects, 
has  been  present  to  my  mind,  may  suffice  to  satisfy  the 
Reader  that,  my  conclusions,  be  they  right  or  be  they 
wrong,  have  not  been  formed  hastily  or  enunciated 
crudely. 

T.  H.  H. 
LONDON;  January,  1863. 


OK   THE  NATURAL  HISTORY  OF  THE 
MAN-LIKE  APES. 


ANCIENT  traditions,  when  tested  by  the  severe  processes 
of  modern  investigation,  commonly  enough  fade  away 
into  mere  dreams :  but  it  is  singular  how  often  the 
dream  turns  out  to  have  been  a  half-waking  one,  pre- 
saging a  reality. 
Ovid  foreshad- 
owed the  dis- 
coveries of  the 
geologist  :  the 
Atlantis  was  an 
imagination,  but 
Columbus  found 
a  western  world: 
and  though  the 
quaint  forms  of 
Centaurs  and 
Satyrs  have  an 
existence  only  in 
the  realms  of 

FIG.  1. — Simiae  magnatum  deliciae. — De  Bry,  1598.        art,  creatures  ap- 

proaching    man 
more  nearly  than  they  in  essential  structure,  and  yet  as 


10  THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

thoroughly  brutal  as  the  goat's  or  horse's  half  of  the 
mythical  compound,  are  now  not  only  known,  but  no- 
torious. 

I  have  not  met  with  any  notice  of  one  of  these  MAN- 
LIKE APES  of  earlier  date  than  that  contained  in  Piga- 
fetta's  "  Description  of  the  kingdom  of  Congo,"  *  drawn 
up  from  the  notes  of  a  Portuguese  sailor,  Eduardo  Lo- 
pez, and  published  in  1598.  The  tenth  chapter  of  this 
work  is  entitled  "  De  Animalibus  quae  in  hac  provincia 
reperiuntur,"  and  contains  a  brief  passage  to  the  effect 
that  "  in  the  Songan  country,  on  the  banks  of  the  Zaire, 
there  are  multitudes  of  apes,  which  afford  great  delight 
to  the  nobles  by  imitating  human  gestures."  As  this 
might  apply  to  almost  any  kind  of  apes,  I  should  have 
thought  little  of  it,  had  not  the  brothers  De  Bry,  whose 
engravings  illustrate  the  work,  thought  fit,  in  their  elev- 
enth "  Argumentum,"  to  figure  two  of  these  "  Simise 
magnatum  delicise."  So  much  of  the  plate  as  contains 
these  apes  is  faithfully  copied  in  the  woodcut  (fig.  1),  and 
it  will  be  observed  that  they  are  tail-less,  long-armed, 
and  large-eared  ;  and  about  the  size  of  Chimpanzees.  It 
may  be  that  these  apes  are  as  much  figments  of  the 
imagination  of  the  ingenious  brothers  as  the  winged,  two- 
legged,  crocodile-headed  dragon  which  adorns  the  same 
plate ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  that  the  artists 
have  constructed  their  drawings  from  some  essentially 
faithful  description  of  a  Gorilla  or  a  Chimpanzee.  And, 
in  either  case,  though  these  figures  are  worth  a  passing 

*  REGNUM  CONGO  :  hoc  est  YERA  DESCRIPTIO  EEGNI  AFRICANI  QUOD  TAM 
AB  INCOLIS  QCAM  LUSITANIS  CoNGCs  APPELLATE,  per  Philippum  Pigafettam, 
olim  ex  Edoardo  Lopez  acroamatis  lingua  Italica  excerpta,  num  Latio  sermone 
donata  ab  August.  Cassiod.  Reinio.  Iconibus  et  imaginibus  rerum  memora- 
bilium  quasi  vivis,  opera  et  industria  Joan.  Theodori  et  Joan.  Israelis  de  Bry, 
fratrum  exornata.  Francofurti,  MDXCVIII. 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  11 

notice,  the  oldest  trustworthy  and  definite  accounts  of 
any  animal  of  this  kind  date  from  the  17th  century,  and 
are  due  to  an  Englishman. 

The  tirst  edition  of  that  most  amusing  old  book, 
"  Purchas  his  Pilgrimage,"  was  published  in  1613,  and 
therein  are  to  be  found  many  references  to  the  statements 
of  one  whom  Purchas  terms  "  Andrew  Battell  (my  neere 
neighbour,  dwelling  at  Leigh  in  Essex)  who  served  under 
Manuel  Silvera  Perera,  Governor  under  the  King  of 
Spaine,  at  his  city  of  Saint  Paul,  and  with  him  went 
farre  into  the  countrey  of  Angola ; "  and  again,  "  my 
friend,  Andrew  Battle,  who  lived  in  the  kingdom  of 
Congo  many  yeares,"  and  who,  "  upon  some  quarell  be- 
twixt the  Portugals  (among  whom  he  was  a  sergeant  of 
a  band)  and  him,  lived  eight  or  nine  moneths  in  the 
woods."  From  this  weather-beaten  old  soldier,  Purchas 
was  amazed  to  hear  "  of  a  kinde  of  Great  Apes,  if  they 
might  so  bee  termed,  of  the  height  of  a  man,  but  twice 
as  bigge  in  feature  of  their  limmes,  with  strength  pro- 
portionable, hairie  all  over,  otherwise  altogether  like  men 
and  women  in  their  whole  bodily  shape.*  They  lived 
on  such  wilde  fruits  as  the  trees  and  woods  yielded,  and 
in  the  night  time  lodged  on  the  trees." 

This  extract  is,  however,  less  detailed  and  clear  in  its 
statements  than  a  passage  in  the  third  chapter  of  the  sec- 
ond part  of  another  work — "  Purchas  his  Pilgrimes,"  pub- 
lished in  1625,  by  the  same  author — which  has  been  often, 
though  hardly  ever  quite  rightly,  cited.  The  chapter  is 
entitled,  "  The  strange  adventures  of  Andrew  Battell,  of 
Leigh  in  Essex,  sent  by  the  Portugals  prisoner  to  Angola, 
who  lived  there  and  in  the  adioning  regions  neere  eight- 
eene  yeeres."  And  the  sixth  section  of  this  chapter  is 

*  "  Except  this  that  their  legges  had  no  calves." — [Ed.  1626.]     And  in  a 
marginal  note,  •'  These  great  apes  are  called  Pongo's." 


12  THE   NATURAL   HISTOKY   OF 

Leaded — "  Of  the  Provinces  of  Bongo,  Calongo,  May- 
ombe,  Manikesocke,  Motimbas :  of  the  Ape  Monster 
Pongo,  their  hunting  :  Idolatries  ;  and  divers  other  obser- 
vations." 

"  This  province  (Calongo)  toward  the  east  bordereth 
upon  Bongo,  and  toward  the  north  upon  Mayombe, 
which  is  nineteen  leagues  from  Longo  along  the  coast. 

"  This  province  of  Mayombe  is  all  woods  and  groves, 
so  overgrowne  that  a  man  may  travaile  twentie  days  in 
the  shadow  without  any  sunne  or  heat.  Here  is  no 
kind  of  corne  nor  graine,  so  that  the  people  liveth  onely 
upon  plantanes  and  roots  of  sundrie  sorts,  very  good  ; 
and  nuts  ;  nor  any  kinde  of  tame  cattell  nor  hens. 

"  But  they  have  great  store  of  elephant's  flesh,  which 
they  greatly  esteeme,  and  many  kinds  of  wild  beasts ; 
and  great  store  of  fish.  Here  is  a  great  sandy  bay,  two 
leagues  to  the  northward  of  Cape  Negro,*  which  is  the 
port  of  Mayombe.  Sometimes  the  Portugals  lade  log- 
wood in  this  bay.  Here  is  a  great  river,  called  Banna : 
in  the  winter  it  hath  no  barre,  because  the  generall 
winds  cause  a  great  sea.  But  when  the  sunne  hath  his 
south  declination,  then  a  boat  may  goe  in  ;  for  then  it  is 
smooth  because  of  the  raine.  This  river  is  very  great, 
and  hath  many  ilands  and  people  dwelling  in  them. 
The  woods  are  so  covered  with  baboones,  monkies,  apes 
and  parrots,  that  it  will  feare  any  man  to  travaile  in 
them  alone.  Here  are  also  two  kinds  of  monsters,  which 
are  common  in  these  woods,  and  very  dangerous. 

"  The  greatest  of  these  two  monsters  is  called  Pongo 
in  their  language,  and  the  lesser  is  called  Engeco.  This 
Pongo  is  in  all  proportion  like  a  man ;  but  that  he  is 
more  like  a  giant  in  stature  than  a  man ;  for  he  is  very 

*  Purchas'  note. — Cape  Negro  is  in  16  degrees  south  of  the  line. 


THE  MAN-LIKE  APES.  13 

tall,  and  hath  a  man's  face,  hollow-eyed,  with  long  haire 
upon  his  browes.  His  face  and  eares  are  without  haire, 
and  his  hands  also.  His  bodie  is  full  of  haire,  but  not 
very  thicke  ;  and  it  is  of  a  dunnish  colour. 

"  He  differeth  not  from  a  man  but  in  his  legs ;  for 
they  have  no  calfe.  Hee  goeth  alwaies  upon  his  legs, 
and  carrieth  his  hands  clasped  in  the  nape  of  his  necke 
when  he  goeth  upon  the  ground.  They  sleepe  in  the 
trees,  and  build  shelters  for  the  raine.  They  feed  upon 
fruit  that  they  find  in  the  woods,  and  upon  nuts,  for 
they  eate  no  kind  of  flesh.  They  cannot  speake,  and 
have  no  understanding  more  than  a  beast.  The  people 
of  the  countrie,  when  they  travaile  in  the  woods,  make 
fires  where  they  sleepe  in  the  night ;  and  in  the  morn- 
ing when  they  are  gone,  the  Pongoes  will  come  and  sit 
about  the  fire  till  it  goeth  out ;  for  they  have  no  under- 
standing to  lay  the  wood  together.  They  goe  many 
together,  and  kill  many  negroes  that  travaile  in  the 
woods.  Many  times  they  fall  upon  the  elephants  which 
come  to  feed  where  they  be,  and  so  beate  them  with 
their  clubbed  fists,  and  pieces  of  wood,  that  they  will 
runne  roaring  away  from  them.  Those  Pongoes  are 
never  taken  alive  because  they  are  so  strong,  that  ten 
men  cannot  hold  one  of  them ;  but  yet  they  take  many 
of  their  young  ones  with  poisoned  arrowes. 

"  The  young  Pongo  hangeth  on  his  mother's  belly 
with  his  hands  fast  clasped  about  her,  so  that  when  the 
countrie  people  kill  any  of  the  females  they  take  the 
young  one,  which  hangeth  fast  upon  his  mother. 

"  When  they  die  among  themselves,  they  cover  the 
dead  with  great  heaps  of  boughs  and  wood,  which  is 
commonly  found  in  the  forest."  * 

*  Purchas1  marginal  note,  p.  982  : — "  The  Pongo  is  a  giant  ape.     He  told 
me  in  conference  with  him,  that  one  of  these  Pongoes  tooke  a  negro  boy  of 


14  THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

It  does  not  appear  difficult  to  identify  the  exact  re- 
gion of  which  Battell  speaks.  Longo  is  doubtless  the 
name  of  the  place  usually  spelled  Loango  on  our  maps. 
Mayombe  still  lies  some  nineteen  leagues  northward  from 
Loango,  along  the  coast ;  and  Cilongo  or  Kilonga,  Mani- 
kesocke,  and  Motimbas  are  yet  registered  by  geographers. 
The  Cape  Negro  of  Battell,  however,  cannot  be  the  mod- 
ern Cape  Negro  in  16°  S.,  since  Loango  itself  is  in  4°  S. 
latitude.  On  the  other  hand,  the  "great  river  called 
Banna "  corresponds  very  well  with  the  "  Gamma"  and 
"  Fernand  Vas,"  of  modern  geographers,  which  form  a 
great  delta  on  this  part  of  the  African  coast. 

Now  this  "  Camma "  country  is  situated  about  a  de- 
gree and  a  half  south  of  the  Equator,  while  a  few  miles 
to  the  north  of  the  line  lies  the  Gaboon,  and  a  degree 
or  so  north  of  that,  the  Money  River — both  well  known 
to  modern  naturalists  as  localities  where  the  largest  of 
man-like  Apes  has  been  obtained.  Moreover,  at  the 
present  day,  the  word  Engeco,  or  N'schego,  is  applied 
by  the  natives  of  these  regions  to  the  smaller  of  the  two 
great  Apes  which  inhabit  them ;  so  that  there  can  be 
no  rational  doubt  that  Andrew  Battell  spoke  of  that 
which  he  knew  of  his  own  knowledge,  or,  at  any  rate, 
by  immediate  report  from  the  natives  of  Western  Africa. 
The  "  Engeco,"  however,  is  that  "  other  monster  "  whose 
nature  Battell  "  forgot  to  relate,"  while  the  name  "  Pon- 
go" — applied  to  the  animal  whose  characters  and  habits 
are  so  fully  and  carefully  described — seems  to  have  died 

his  which  lived  a  moneth  with  them.  For  they  hurt  not  those  which  they 
surprise  at  unawares,  except  they  looke  on  them ;  which  he  avoyded.  He 
said  their  highth  was  like  a  man's,  but  their  bignesse  twice  as  great.  I  saw 
the  negro  boy.  What  the  other  monster  should  be  he  hath  forgotten  to  re> 
late  ;  and  these  papers  came  to  my  hand  since  his  death,  which,  otherwise,  in 
my  often  conferences,  I  might  have  learned.  Perhaps  he  meaneth  the  Pigmy 
Pongo  killers  mentioned." 


THE   MAN-LIKE  APES.  15 

out,  at  least  in  its  primitive  form  and  signification.  In- 
deed, there  is  evidence  that  not  only  in  Battell's  time, 
but  up  to  a  very  recent  date,  it  was  used  in  a  totally 
different  sense  from  that  in  which  he  employs  it. 

For  example,  the  second  chapter  of  Furchas'  work, 
which  I  have  just  quoted,  contains  "A  Description  and 
Ilistoricall  Declaration  of  the  Golden  Kingdom  of  Guinea, 
&c.  &c.  Translated  from  the  Dutch,  and  compared  also 
with  the  Latin,"  wherein  it  is  stated  (p.  986)  that — 

"  The  River  Gaboon  lyeth  about  fifteen  miles  north- 
ward from  Rio  de  Angra,  and  eight  miles  northward 
from  Cape  de  Lope  Gonsalvez  (Cape  Lopez),  and  is 
right  under  the  Equinoctial  line,  about  fifteene  miles 
from  St.  Thomas,  and  is  a  great  land,  well  and  easily  to 
be  knowne.  At  the  mouth  of  the  river  there  lieth  a 
sand,  three  or  foure  fathoms  deepe,  whereon  it  beateth 
mightily  with  the  streame  which  runneth  out  of  the 
river  into  the  sea.  This  river,  in  the  mouth  thereof,  is 
at  least  foure  miles  broad ;  but  when  you  are  about  the 
Hand  called  Pongo,  it  is  not  above  two  miles  broad.  . 
.  .  On  both  sides  the  river  there  standeth  many  trees. 

The  Hand  called  Pongo,  which  hath  a 

monstrous  high  hill." 

The  French  naval  officers,  whose  letters  are  appended 
to  the  late  M.  Isidore  Geoff.  Saint  Hilaire's  excellent 
essay  on  the  Gorilla,*  note  in  similar  terms  the  width  of 
the  Gaboon,  the  trees  that  line  its  banks  down  to  the 
water's  edge,  and  the  strong  current  that  sets  out  of  it. 
They  describe  two  islands  in  its  estuary  ; — one  low,  called 
Perroquet ;  the  other  high,  presenting  three  conical  hills, 
called  Coniquet ;  and  one  of  them,  M.  Franquet,  expressly 
states  that,  formerly,  the  Chief  of  Coniquet  was  called 

*  Archives  du  Museum,  Tome  X. 


16 


THE  NATURAL   HISTOBY   OF 


Homo  Sylvestris. 
Orang  Outang. 


Meni-Pongo,  meaning  thereby  Lord  of  Pongo  ;  and  that 
the  N^Pongues  (as,  in  agreement  with  Dr.  Savage,  he 
affirms  the  natives  call  themselves)  term  the  estuary  of  the 
Gaboon  itself  N' }  Pongo. 

It  is  so  easy,  in  dealing  with  savages,  to  misunder- 
stand their  applications  of  words  to  things,  that  one  is 
at  first  inclined  to  suspect  Battell  of  having  confounded 
the  name  of  this  region,  where  his  "  greater  monster " 
still  abounds,  with  the  name  of  the  animal  itself.  But 
he  is  so  right  about  other  matters  (including  the  name 
of  the  "  lesser  monster,")  that  one  is  loth  to  suspect  the 
old  traveller  of  error ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  we  shall 
find  that  a  voyager  of  a  hundred  years'  later  date  speaks 
of  the  name  "  Boggoe,"  as  applied  to  a  great  Ape,  by 

the  inhabitants  of  quite 
another  part  of  Africa — 
Sierra  Leone. 

But  I  must  leave  this 
question  to  be  settled  by 
philologers  and  travel- 
lers ;  and  I  should  hardly 
have  dwelt  so  long  upon 
it  except  for  the  curious 
part  played  by  this  word 
'  Pongo '  in  the  later  his- 
tory of  the  man-likeApes. 
The  generation  which 
succeeded  Battell  saw  the 
first  of  the  man-like  Apes 
which  was  ever  brought 

FIG.  2.-The  Orang  of  Tulpius,  1641.    to    Europe,    or,    at    any 

rate,  whose  visit  found  a 

historian.  In  the  third  book  of  Tulpius'  "  Observationes 
Medicse,"  published  in  1641,  the  56th  chapter  or  section 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  17 

is  devoted  to  what  he  calls  Satyrus  indices  "  called  by 
the  Indians  Orang-autang,  or  JVlan-of-the-Woods,  and  by 
the  Africans  Quoias  Morrou."  He  gives  a  very  good 
figure,  evidently  from  the  life,  of  the  specimen  of  this 
animal,  "  nostra  memoria  ex  Angola  delatum,"  presented 
to  Frederick  Henry,  Prince  of  Orange.  Tulpius  says  it 
was  as  big  as  a  child  of  three  years  old,  and  as  stout  as 
one  of  six  years:  and  that  its  back  was  covered  with_ 
black  hair.  It  is  plainly  a  young  Chimpanzee. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  existence  of  other,  Asiatic, 
man-like  Apes  became  known,  but  at  first  in  a  very 
mythical  fashion.  Thus  Bontius  (1658)  gives  an  alto- 
gether fabulous  and  ridiculous  account  and  figure  of  an 
animal  which  he  calls  "  Orang-outang " ;  and  though  he 
says  "  vidi  Ego  cujus  effigiem  hie  exhibeo,"  the  said  effi- 
gies (see  fig.  6  for  Hoppius'  copy  of  it)  is  nothing  but  a 
vjery  hairy  woman  of  rather  comely  aspect,  and  with  pro- 
portions and  feet  wholly  human.  The  judicious  English 
anatomist,  Tyson,  was  justified  in  saying  of  this  descrip- 
tion by  Bontius,  "  I  confess  I  do  mistrust  the  whole  repre- 
sentation." 

It  is  to  the  last  mentioned  writer,  and  his  coadjutor 
Cowper,  that  we  owe  the  first  account  of  a  man-like  ape 
which  has  any  pretensions  to  a  scientific  accuracy  and 
completeness.  The  treatise  entitled,  Orang-outang,  sive 
Homo  Sylvestris  ;  or  the  Anatomy  of  a  Pygmie  compared 
with  that  of  a  Monkey,  an  Ape,  and  a  Man"  published 
by  the  Royal  Society  in  1699,  is,  indeed,  a  work  of  re- 
markable merit,  and  has,  in  some  respects,  served  as  a 
model  to  subsequent  inquirers.  This  "Pygmie,"  Tyson 
tells  us,  "  was  brought  from  Angola,  in  Africa  ;  but  was 
first  taken  a  great  deal  higher  up  the  country  ; "  its  hair 
"  was  of  a  coal-black  colour,  and  strait,"  and  "  when  it 
went  as  a  quadruped  on  all  four,  'twas  awkwardly  ;  not 


18 


THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 


placing  the  palm  of  the  hand  flat  to  the  ground,  but  it 
walk'd  upon  its  knuckles,  as  I  observed  it  to  do  when 
weak  and  had  not  strength  enough  to  support  its  body." 
— "  From  the  top  of  the  head  to  the  heel  of  the  foot,  in 
a  straight  line,  it  measured  twenty-six  inches." 


FIGS.  3  &  4. — The  'Pygmie'  reduced  from  Tyson's  figures  1  and  2,  1699. 

These  characters,  even  without  Tyson's  good  figures 
(figs.  3  and  4),  would  have  been  sufficient  to  prove  his 
"  Pygmie  "  to  be  a  young  Chimpanzee.  But  the  oppor- 
tunity of  examining  the  skeleton  of  the  very  animal 
Tyson  anatomised  having  most  unexpectedly  presented 
itself  to  me,  I  am  able  to  bear  independent  testimony  to 


THE  MAN-LIKE  APES.  19 

its  being  a  veritable  Troglodytes  niger*  though  still 
very  young.  Although  fully  appreciating  the  resem- 
blances between  his  Pygmie  and  Man,  Tyson  by  no 
means  overlooked  the  differences  between  the  two,  and  he 
concludes  his  memoir  by  summing  up  first,  the  points  in 
which  "  the  Ourang-outang  or  Pygmie  more  resembled  a 
Man  than  Apes  and  Monkeys  do,"  under  forty-seven  dis- 
tinct heads  ;  and  then  giving,  in  thirty-four  similar  brief 
paragraphs,  the  respects  in  which  "  the  Ourang-outang  or 
Pygmie  differ'd  from  a  Man  and  resembled  more  the  Ape 
and  Monkey  kind." 

After  a  careful  survey  of  the  literature  of  the  subject 
extant  in  his  time,  our  author  arrives  at  the  conclusion 
that  his  "  Pygmie  "  is  identical  neither  with  the  Orangs 
of  Tulpius  and  Bontius,  nor  with  the  Quoias  Morrou  of 
Dapper  (or  rather  of  Tulpius),  the  Barris  of  d'Arcos,  nor 
with  the  Pongo  of  Battell ;  but  that  it  is  a  species  of  ape 
probably  identical  with  the  Pygmies  of  the  Ancients,  and, 
says  Tyson,  though  it  "  does  so  much  resemble  a  Man 
in  many  of  its  parts,  more  than  any  of  the  ape  kind,  or 
any  other  animal  in  the  world,  that  I  know  of :  yet  by  no 
means  do  I  look  upon  it  as  the  product  of  a  mixt  genera- 
tion— 'tis  a  Brute-Animal  sui  generis,  and  a  particular 
species  of  Ape" 

The  name  of  "  Chimpanzee,"  by  which  one  of  the 
African  Apes  is  now  so  well  known,  appears  to  have 

*  I  am  indebted  to  Dr.  Wright,  of  Cheltenham,  whose  paleontological 
labours  are  so  well  known,  for  bringing  this  interesting  relic  to  my  knowledge. 
Tyson's  granddaughter,  it  appears,  married  Dr.  Allardyce,  a  physician  of  re- 
pute in  Cheltenham,  and  brought,  as  part  of  her  dowry,  the  skeleton  of  the 
'Pygmie.'  Dr.  Allardyce  presented  it  to  the  Cheltenham  Museum,  and, 
through  the  good  offices  of  my  friend  Dr.  Wright,  the  authorities  of  the  Mu- 
seum have  permitted  me  to  borrow,  what  is,  perhaps,  its  most  remarkable 
ornament. 


20 


THE   NATUEAL   HISTORY   OF 


come  into  use  in  the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
but  the  only  important  addition  made,  in  that  period,  to 
our  acquaintance  with  the  man-like  apes  of  Africa  is  con- 
tained in  "  A  New  Yoyage  to  Guinea,"  by  William  Smith, 
which  bears  the  date  1744. 

In  describing  the  animals  of  Sierra  Leone,  p.  51,  this 
writer  says : — 

"  I  shall  next  describe  a  strange  sort  of  animal,  called 
by  the  white  men  in  this  country  Mandrill,*  but  why  it  is 


FIG.  5.— Facsimile  of  William  Smith's  figure  of  the  "  Mandrill,"  1744. 

*  "Mandrill"  seems  to  signify  a  "man-like  ape,"  the  word  "Drill"  or 
"  Dril "  having  been  anciently  employed  in  England  to  denote  an  Ape  or 
Baboon.  Thus  in  the  fifth  edition  of  "  Blount's  "  Glossographia,  or  a  Dic- 
tionary interpreting  the  hard  words  of  whatsoever  language  now  used  in  our 
refined  English  tongue  .  .  .  very  useful  for  all  such  as  desire  to  understand 
what  they  read,"  published  in  1681,  I  find, "  Dril — a  stone-cutter's  tool  where- 
with he  bores  little  holes  in  marble,  &c.  Also  a  large  overgrown  Ape  and 
Baboon,  so  called."  "Drill"  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in  Charleton's 
"Onomasticon  Zoicon,"  1668.  The  singular  etymology  of  the  word  given  by 
Buffon  seems  hardly  a  probable  one. 


THE  MAN-LIZE   APES.  21 

BO  called  I  know  not,  nor  did  I  ever  hear  the  name  before, 
neither  can  those  who  call  them  so  tell,  except  it  be  for 
their  near  resemblance  of  a  human  creature,  though  noth- 
ing at  all  like  an  Ape.  Their  bodies,  when  full  grown, 
are  as  big  in  circumference  as  a  middle-sized  man's — their 
legs  much  shorter,  and  their  feet  larger ;  their  arms  and 
hands  in  proportion.  The  head  is  monstrously  big,  and 
the  face  broad  and  flat,  without  any  other  hair  but  the 
eyebrows ;  the  nose  very  small,  the  mouth  wide,  and  the 
lips  thin.  The  face,  which  is  covered  by  a  white  skin,  is 
monstrously  ugly,  being  all  over  wrinkled  as  with  old  age ; 
the  teeth  broad  and  yellow  ;  the  hands  have  no  more  hair 
than  the  face,  but  the  same  white  skin,  though  all  the  rest 
of  the  body  is  covered  with  long  black  hair,  like  a  bear. 
They  never  go  upon  all-fours,  like  apes ;  but  cry,  when 
vexed  or  teased,  just  like  children 

"  When  I  was  at  Sherbro,  one  Mr.  Cummerbus,  whom 
I  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  to  mention,  made  me  a 
present  of  one  of  these  strange  animals,  which  are  called 
by  the  natives  Boggoe :  it  was  a  she-cub,  of  six  months' 
age,  but  even  then  larger  than  a  Baboon.  I  gave  it  in 
charge  to  one  of  the  slaves,  who  knew  how  to  feed  and 
nurse  it,  being  a  very  tender  sort  of  animal ;  but  when- 
ever I  went  off  the  deck  the  sailors  began  to  teaze  it — 
some  loved  to  see  its  tears  and  hear  it  cry ;  others  hated 
its  snotty -nose ;  one  who  hurt  it,  being  checked  by  the 
negro  that  took  care  of  it,  told  the  slave  he  was  very  fond 
of  his  country-woman,  and  asked  him  if  he  should  not  like 
her  for  a  wife  ?  To  which  the  slave  very  readily  replied, 
'  No,  this  no  my  wife  ;  this  a  white  woman — this  fit  wife 
for  you.'  This  unlucky  wit  of  the  negro's,  I  fancy,  has- 
tened its  death,  for  next  morning  it  was  found  dead  under 
the  windlass." 

William  Smith's  l  Mandrill,'  or  '  Boggoe,'  as  his  de- 


22 


THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 


scription  and  figure  testify,  was,  without  doubt,  a  Chim- 
panzee. 

Linnaeus  knew  nothing,  of  his  own  observation,  of  the 
man-like  Apes  of  either  Africa  or  Asia,  but  a  dissertation 
by  his  pupil  Hoppius  in  the  "  Amosnitates  Academicae  " 
(YI.  '  Anthropomorpha ')  may  be  regarded  as  embodying 
his  views  respecting  these  animals. 

The  dissertation  is  illustrated  by  a  plate,  of  which  the 
accompanying  woodcut,  fig.  6,  is  a  reduced  copy.  The 
figures  are  entitled  (from  left  to  right)  1.  Troglodyta  Bon- 
tii /  2.  Lucifer  Aldrovandi ;  3.  Satyrus  Tulpii  /  4.  Pyg- 
mceus  Edwardi.  The  first  is  a  bad  copy  of  Bontius'  fie- 


FIG.  6. — The  Anthropomorpha  of  Linnaeus. 

titious  '  Ourang-outang,'  in  whose  existence,  however, 
Linnaeus  appears  to  have  fully  believed ;  for  in  the  stan- 
dard edition  of  the  "  Systema  Naturae,"  it  is  enumerated 
as  a  second  species  of  Homo  ;  "  H.  nocturnus."  Lucifer 
Aldrovandi  is  a  copy  of  a  figure  in  Aldrovandus,  '  De 
Quadrupedibus  digitatis  viviparis,'  Lib.  2,  p.  249  (1645) 
entitled  "  Cercopithecus  formae  rarae  Barbilius  vocatus  et 


24 

ou  le  Pongo  et  le  Jocko."    To  this  title  the  following  note 
is  appended : — 

"  Orang-outang  nom  de  cet  animal  aux  Indes  orientates :  Pongo  nom  de 
cet  animal  a  Lowando  Province  de  Congo. 

"Jocko,  Enjocko,  nom  de  cet  animal  a  Congo  que  nous  avons  adopte. 
En  est  1'article  que  nous  avons  retranche." 

Thus  it  was  that  Andrew  Battell's  "  Engeco  "  became 
metamorphosed  into  "  Jocko,"  and,  in  the  latter  shape, 
was  spread  all  over  the  world,  in  consequence  of  the  ex- 
tensive popularity  of  Buffon's  works.  The  Abbe  Prevost 
and  Buffon  between  them  however,  did  a  good  deal  more 
disfigurement  to  Battell's  sober  account  than  '  cutting  off 
an  article.'  Thus  Battell's  statement  that  the  Pongos 
"  cannot  speake,  and  have  no  understanding  more  than  a 
beast,"  is  rendered  by  Buffon  "  qu'il  ne  peut  parler 
quoiqv?il  ait  plus  d"*  entendement  que  lea  autres  ani- 
maux;"  and  again,  Purchas'  affirmation,  "He  told  me 
in  conference  with  him,  that  one  of  these  Pongos  tooke  a 
negro  boy  of  his  which  lived  a  moneth  with  them,"  stands 
in  the  French  version,  "  un  pongo  lui  enleva  un  petit 
negre  qui  passa  un  an  entier  dans  la  societe  de  ces  ani- 
maux." 

After  quoting  the  account  of  the  great  Pongo,  Buffon 
justly  remarks,  that  all  the  '  Jockos '  and  '  Orangs '  hith- 
erto brought  to  Europe  were  young  ;  and  he  suggests  that, 
in  their  adult  condition,  they  might  be  as  big  as  the  Pongo 
or  '  great  Orang  ; '  so  that,  provisionally,  he  regarded  the 
Jockos,  Orangs,  and  Pongos  as  all  of  one  species.  And 
perhaps  this  was  as  much  as  the  state  of  knowledge  at  the 
time  warranted.  But  how  it  came  about  that  Buffon 
failed  to  perceive  the  similarity  of  Smith's  '  Mandrill '  to 
his  own  '  Jocko,'  and  confounded  the  former  with  so  to- 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  23 

originera  a  china  ducebat."  Hoppius  is  of  opinion  that 
this  may  be  one  of  that  cat-tailed  people,  of  whom  Nico- 
laus  Koping  affirms  that  they  eat  a  boat's  crew,  "  guber- 
nator  navis  "  and  all !  In  the  "  Systema  naturae"  Linnaeus 
calls  it  in  a  note,  Homo  caudatus,  and  seems  inclined  to 
regard  it  as  a  third  species  of  man.  According  to  Tem- 
minck,  Satyrus  Tulpii  is  a  copy  of  the  figure  of  a  Chim- 
panzee published  by  Scotin  in  1738,  which  I  have  not 
seen.  It  is  the  Satyrus  indicus  of  the  "  Systema  Naturae," 
and  is  regarded  by  Linnaaus  as  possibly  a  distinct  species 
from  Satyrus  sylvestris.  The  last,  named  Pygmceus  Ed- 
wardi,  is  copied  from  the  figure  of  a  young  "  Man  of  the 
"Woods,"  or  true  Orang-Utan,  given  in  Edwards'  '  Glean- 
ings of  Natural  History,'  (1758). 

Buffon  was  more  fortunate  than  his  great  rival.  Not 
only  had  he  the  rare  opportunity  of  examining  a  young 
Chimpanzee  in  the  living  state,  but  he  became  possessed 
of  an  adult  Asiatic  man-like  Ape — the  first  and  the  last 
adult  specimen  of  any  of  these  animals  brought  to  Europe 
for  many  years.  With  the  valuable  assistance  of  Dauben- 
ton,  Buffon  gave  an  excellent  description  of  this  creature, 
which,  from  its  singular  proportions,  he  termed  the  long- 
armed  Ape,  or  Gibbon.  It  is  the  modern  Hylobates  lar. 

Thus  when,  in  1766,  Buffon  wrote  the  fourteenth  vol- 
ume of  his  great  work,  he  was  personally  familiar  with  the 
young  of  one  kind  of  African  man-like  Ape,  and  with  the 
adult  of  an  Asiatic  species — while  the  Orang-Utan  and 
the  Mandrill  of  Smith  were  known  to  him  by  report. 
Furthermore,  the  Abbe  Prevost  had  translated  a  good 
deal  of  Purchas'  Pilgrims  into  French,  in  his  '  Histoire 
generale  des  Voyages '  (1748),  and  there  Buffon  found  a 
version  of  Andrew  Battell's  account  of  the  Pongo  and  the 
Engeco.  All  these  data  Buffon  attempts  to  weld  together 
into  harmony  in  his  chapter  entitled  "  Les  Orang-outangs 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  25 

tally  different  a  creature  as  tlie  blue-faced  Baboon,  is  not 
so  easily  intelligible. 

Twenty  years  later  Buffon  changed  his  opinion,*  and 
expressed  his  belief  that  the  Orangs  constituted  a  genus 
with  two  species, — a  large  one,  the  Pongo  of  Battell,  and 
a  small  one,  the  Jocko  :  that  the  small  one  (Jocko)  is  the 
East  Indian  Orang  ;  and  that  the  young  animals  from  Af- 
rica, observed  by  himself  and  Tulpius,  are  simply  young 
Pongos. 

In  the  meanwhile,  the  Dutch  naturalist,  Yosmaer, 
gave,  in  1778,  a  very  good  account  and  figure  of  a  young 
Orang,  brought  alive  to  Holland,  and  his  countryman,  the 
famous  anatomist,  Peter  Camper,  published  (1779)  an 
essay  on  the  Orang-TJtan  of  similar  value  to  that  of  Tyson 
on  the  Chimpanzee.  He  dissected  several  females  and  a 
male,  all  of  which,  from  the  state  of  their  skeleton  and 
their  dentition,  he  justly  supposes  to  have  been  young. 
However,  judging  by  the  analogy  of  man,  he  concludes 
that  they  could  not  have  exceeded  four  feet  in  height  in 
the  adult  condition.  Furthermore,  he  is  very  clear  as  to 
the  specific  distinctness  of  the  tme  East  Indian  Orang. 

"  The  Orang,"  says  he,  "  differs  not  only  from  the 
Pigmy  of  Tyson  and  from  the  Orang  of  Tulpins  by  its 
peculiar  colour  and  its  long  toes,  but  also  by  its  whole 
external  form.  Its  arms,  its  hands,  and  its  feet  are  longer, 
while  the  thumbs,  on  the  contrary,  are  much  shorter,  and 
the  great  toes  much  smaller  in  proportion."  f  And  again, 
"  The  true  Orang,  that  is  to  say,  that  of  Asia,  that  of  Bor- 
neo, is  consequently  not  the  Pithecus,  or  tail-less  Ape, 
which  the  Greeks,  and  especially  Galen,  have  described. 
It  is  neither  the  Pongo  nor  the  Jocko,  nor  the  Orang  of 


*  ITistoire  Naturclle,  Suppl.  tome  Verne,  1789. 
•j-  Camper,  (Euvres,  I.,  p.  56. 
2 


26  THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

Tulpius,  nor  the  Pigmy  of  Tyson, — it  is  an  animal  of  a 
peculiar  species,  as  I  shall  prove  in  the  clearest  manner 
by  the  organs  of  voice  and  the  skeleton  in  the  following 
chapters."  (1.  c.  p.  04). 

A  few  years  later,  M.  Radermacher,  who  held  a  high 
office  in  the  Government  of  the  Dutch  dominions  in  In- 
dia, and  was  an  active  member  of  the  Batavian  Society  of 
Arts  and  Sciences,  published,  in  the  second  part  of  the 
Transactions  of  that  Society,*  a  Description  of  the  Island 
of  Borneo,  which  was  written  between  the  years  1779  and 
1781,  and,  among  much  other  interesting  matter,  contains 
some  notes  upon  the  Orang.  The  small  sort  of  Orang- 
TJtan,  viz.  that  of  Yosmaer  and  of  Edwards,  he  says,  is 
found  only  in  Borneo,  and  chiefly  about  Banjermassing, 
Mampauwa,  and  Landak.  Of  these  he  had  seen  some 
fifty  during  his  residence  in  the  Indies ;  but  none  ex- 
ceeded 2^  feet  in  length.  The  larger  sort,  often  regarded 
as  chimera,  continues  Radermacher,  would,  perhaps,  long 
have  remained  so,  had  it  not  been  for  the  exertions  of  the 
Resident  at  Rembang,  M.  Palm,  who,  on  returning  from 
Landak  towards  Pontiana,  shot  one,  and  forwarded  it  to 
Batavia  in  spirit,  for  transmission  to  Europe. 

Palm's  letter  describing  the  capture  runs  thus : — 
"  Herewith  I  send  your  Excellency,  contrary  to  ail  ex- 
pectation (since  long  ago  I  offered  more  than  a  hundred 
ducats  to  the  natives  for  an  Orang-Utan  of  four  or  five 
feet  high)  an  Orang  which  I  heard  of  this  morning  about 
eight  o'clock.  For  a  long  time  we  did  our  best  to  take 
the  frightful  beast  alive  in  the  dense  forest  about  half  way 
to  Landak.  We  forgot  even  to  eat,  so  anxious  were  we 
not  to  let  him  escape ;  but  it  was  necessary  to  take  care 
he  did  not  revenge  himself,  as  he  kept  continually  break- 

*  Verhandelingen    van    bet    Eataviaasch   Cer.ootsdiap.      Twccdc    Peel. 
Dcrdc  Druk.      1826. 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  27 

ing  off  heavy  pieces  of  wood  and  green  branches,  and 
dashing  them  at  us.  This  game  lasted  till  four  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  when  we  determined  to  shoot  him ;  in 
which  I  succeeded  very  well,  and  indeed  better  than  I  ever 
shot  from  a  boat  before  ;  for  the  bullet  went  just  into  the 
side  of  his  chest,  so  that  he  was  not  much  damaged.  We 
got  him  into  the  prow  still  living,  and  bound  him  fast, 
and  next  morning  he  died  of  his  wounds.  All  Pontiana 
came  on  board  to  see  him  when  we  arrived."  Palm  gives 
his  height  from  the  head  to  the  heel  as  49  inches. 

A  very  intelligent  German  officer,  Baron  Yon  "Wurmb, 
who  at  this  time  held  a  post  in  the  Dutch  East  India  ser- 
vice, and  was  Secretary  of  the  Batavian  Society,  studied 
this  animal,  and  his  careful  description  of  it,  entitled 
"  Beschrijving  van  der  Groote  Borneosche  Orang-outang 
of  de  Oost-Indische  Pongo,"  is  contained  in  the  same  vol- 
ume of  the  Batavian  Society's  Transactions.  After  Yon 
Wurmb  had  drawn  up  his  description  he  states,  in  a  letter 
dated  Batavia,  Feb.  18,  1781,*  that  the  specimen  was  sent 
to  Europe  in  brandy  to  be  placed  in  the  collection  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange  ;  "  unfortunately,"  he  continues,  "  we 
hear  that  the  ship  has  been  wrecked."  Yon  Wurrnb  died 
in  the  course  of  the  year  1781,  the  letter  in  which  this 
passage  occurs  being  the  last  he  wrote ;  but  in  his  posthu- 
mous papers,  published  in  the  fourth  part  of  the  Transac- 
tions of  the  Batavian  Society,  there  is  a  brief  description, 
with  measurements,  of  a  female  Pongo  four  feet  high. 

Did  either  of  these  original  specimens,  on  which  Yon 
Wurmb's  descriptions  are  based,  ever  reach  Europe  ?  It 
is  commonly  supposed  that  they  did  ;  but  I  doubt  the  fact. 
For,  appended  to  the  memoir  "  De  I'Ourang-outang,"  in 
the  collected  edition  of  Camper's  works,  Tome  I.,  pp. 

*  "  Briefe  des  Ilerrn  v.  Wurmb  und  dcs  H.  Baron  von  Wollzogen. 
Gotha,  1794" 


28 


THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 


64-66,  is  a  note  by  Camper  himself,  referring  to  Yon 
Wurmb's  papers,  and  continuing  thus  : — "  Heretofore,  this 
kind  of  ape  had  never  been  known  in  Europe.  Rader- 
macher  has  had  the  kindness  to  send  me  the  skull  of  one 


FIG.  7. — The  Pongo  Skull,  sent  by  Radermacher  to  Camper,  after  Camper's 
original  sketches,  as  reproduced  by  Lucae. 

of  these  animals,  which  measured  fifty-three  inches,  or  four 
feet  five  inches,  in  height.  I  have  sent  some  sketches  of 
it  to  M.  Soemmering  at  Mayence,  which  are  better  calcu- 
lated, however,  to  give  an  idea  of  the  form  than  of  the 
real  size  of  the  parts." 

These  sketches  have  been  reproduced  by  Fischer  and 
by  Lucse,  and  bear  date  1783,  Soemmering  having  re- 
ceived them  in  1784.  Had  either  of  Von  Wurmb's  speci- 
mens reached  Holland,  they  would  hardly  have  been  un- 
known at  this  time  to  Camper,  who,  however,  goes  on  to 
say  : — "  It  appears  that  since  this,  some  more  of  these 
monsters  have  been  captured,  for  an  entire  skeleton,  very 
badly  set  up,  which  had  been  sent  to  the  Museum  of  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  and  which  I  saw  only  on  the  2Yth  of 
June,  1784,  was  more  than  four  feet  high.  I  examined 


THE   MAN-LIKE    APES.  29 

this  skeleton  again  on  the  19th  December,  1785,  after  it 
had  been  excellently  put  to  rights  by  the  ingenious  Ony- 
mus." 

It  appears  evident,  then,  that  this  skeleton,  which  is 
doubtless  that  which  has  always  gone  by  the  name  of 
"Wurmb's  Pongo,  is  not  that  of  the  animal  described  by 
him,  though  unquestionably  similar  in  all  essential  points. 

Camper  proceeds  to  note  some  of  the  most  important 
features  of  this  skeleton  ;  promises  to  describe  it  in  detail 
by-and-bye;  and  is  evidently  in  doubt  as  to  the  relation 
of  this  great  '  Pongo '  to  his  "  petit  Orang." 

The  promised  further  investigations  were  never  carried 
out ;  and  so  it  happened  that  the  Pongo  of  Yon  "Wurmb 
took  its  place  by  the  side  of  the  Chimpanzee,  Gibbon,  and 
Orang  as  a  fourth  and  colossal  species  of  man-like  Ape. 
And  indeed  nothing  could  look  much  less  like  the  Chim- 
panzees or  the  Orangs,  then  known,  than  the  Pongo  ;  for 
all  the  specimens  of  Chimpanzee  and  Orang  which  had 
been  observed  were  small  of  stature,  singularly  human  in 
aspect,  gentle  and  docile ;  while  Wurmb's  Pongo  was  a 
monster  almost  twice  their  size,  of  vast  strength  and 
fierceness,  and  very  brutal  in  expression ;  its  great  pro- 
jecting muzzle,  armed  with  strong  teeth,  being  further 
disfigured  by  the  outgrowth  of  the  cheeks  into  fleshy 
lobes. 

Eventually,  in  accordance  with  the  usual  marauding 
habits  of  the  Eevolutioriary  armies,  the  'Pongo'  skeleton 
was  carried  away  from  Holland  into  France,  and  notices 
of  it,  expressly  intended  to  demonstrate  its  entire  distinct- 
ness from  the  Orang  and  its  affinity  with  the  baboons, 
were  given,  in  1798,  by  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire  and  Cuvier. 

Even  in  Cuvicr's  "  Tableau  Elementaire,"  and  in  the 
first  edition  of  his  great  work,  the  "  Regne  Animal,"  the 
4  Pongo '  is  classed  as  a  species  of  Baboon.  However,  so 


30  THE   NATUKAL   HISTORY   OF 

early  as  1818,  it  appears  that  Cuvier  saw  reason  to  alter 
this  opinion,  and  to  adopt  the  view  suggested  several  years 
before  by  Blumenbaeh,*  and  after  him  by  Tilesius,  that 
the  Bornean  Pongo  is  simply  an  adult  Orang.  In  1824, 
Rudolphi  demonstrated,  by  the  condition  of  the  dentition, 
more  fully  and  completely  than  had  been  done  by  his  pred- 
ecessors, that  the  Orangs  described  up  to  that  time  were 
all  young  animals,  and  that  the  skull  and  teeth  of  the 
adult  would  probably  be  such  as  those  seen  in  the  Pongo 
of  Wurmb.  In  the  second  edition  of  the  '  Regne  Animal ' 
(1829),  Cuvier  infers,  from  the  '  proportions  of  all  the 
parts '  and  '  the  arrangements  of  the  foramina  and  sutures 
of  the  head,'  that  the  Pongo  is  the  adult  of  the  Orang- 
Utan,  '  at  least  of  a  very  closely  allied  species,'  and  this 
conclusion  was  eventually  placed  beyond  all  doubt  by 
Professor  Owen's  Memoir  published  in  the  '  Zoological 
Transactions '  for  1835,  and  by  Temminck  in  his  '  Monog- 
raphies  de  Mammalogie.'  Temminck's  memoir  is  remark- 
able for  the  completeness  of  the  evidence  which  it  affords 
as  to  the  modification  which  the  form  of  the  Orang  under- 
goes according  to  age  and  sex.  Tiedemann  first  published 
an  account  of  the  brain  of  the  young  Orang,  while  Sandi- 
fort,  Miiller  and  Schlegel,  described  the  muscles  and  the 
viscera  of  the  adult,  and  gave  the  earliest  detailed  and 
trustworthy  history  of  the  habits  of  the  great  Indian  Ape 
in  a  state  of  nature  ;  and  as  important  additions  have  been 
made  by  later  observers,  we  are  at  this  moment  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  adult  of  the  Orang-Utan,  than  with  that 
of  any  of  the  other  greater  man-like  Apes. 

It  is  certainly  the  Pongo  of  Wurmb  ;f  and  it  is  as 

*  See  Blumenbaeh,  "  Abbildungen  Xaturhistorichen  Gegenstande,"  No.  12, 
1810;  and  Tilesius,  '•  Naturhistoriche  Fruchte  der  ersten  Kaiscrlich-Rua- 
sischen  Erdumsegelung,"  p.  115,  1813. 

f  Speaking  broadly  and  without  prejudice  to  the  question,  whether  there 
be  more  than  one  species  of  Orang. 


THE  MAN-LIKE   APES.  31 

certainly  not  the  Pongo  of  Battell,  seeing  that  the  Orang- 
Utan  is  entirely  confined  to  the  great  Asiatic  islands  of 
Borneo  and  Sumatra. 

And  while  the  progress  of  discovery  thus  cleared  up 
the  history  of  the  Orang,  it  also  became  established  that 
the  only  other  man-like  Apes  in  the  eastern  world  were 
the  various  species  of  Gibbon — Apes  of  smaller  stature, 
and  therefore  attracting  less  attention  than  the  Orangs, 
though  they  are  spread  over  a  much  wider  range  of 
country,  and  are  hence  more  accessible  to  observation. 

Although  the  geographical  area  inhabited  by  the 
'  Pongo '  and  '  Engeco '  of  Battell  is  so  much  nearer  to 
Europe  than  that  in  which  the  Orang  and  Gibbon  are 
found,  our  acquaintance  with  the  African  Apes  has  been 
of  slower  growth ;  indeed,  it  is  only  within  the  last  few 
years  that  the  truthful  story  of  the  old  English  adven- 
turer has  been  rendered  fully  intelligible.  It  was  not 
until  1835  that  the  skeleton  of  the  adult  Chimpanzee  be- 
came known,  by  the  publication  of  Professor  Owen's 
above-mentioned  very  excellent  memoir  "  On  the  osteol- 
ogy of  the  Chimpanzee  and  Orang,"  in  the  Zoological 
Transactions — a  memoir  which,  by  the  accuracy  of  its  de- 
scriptions, the  carefulness  of  its  comparisons,  and  the  ex- 
cellence of  its  figures,  made  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  our 
knowledge  of  the  bony  framework,  not  only  of  the  Chim- 
panzee, but  of  all  the  anthropoid  Apes. 

By  the  investigations  herein  detailed,  it  became  evi- 
dent that  the  old  Chimpanzee  acquired  a  size  and  aspect 
as  different  from  those  of  the  young  known  to  Tyson,  to 
Buffon,  and  to  Traill,  as  those  of  the  old  Orang  from  the 
young  Orang ;  and  the  subsequent  very  important  re- 
searches of  Messrs.  Savage  and  AVyman,  the  American 


32  THE   NATURAL   HISTOEY   OF 

missionary  and  anatomist,  have  not  only  confirmed  this 
conclusion,  but  have  added  many  new  details.* 

One  of  the  most  interesting  among  the  many  valuable 
discoveries  made  by  Dr.  Thomas  Savage  is  the  fact,  that 
the  natives  in  the  Gaboon  country  at  the  present  day, 
apply  to  the  Chimpanzee  a  name — "  Enche-eko  " — which 
is  obviously  identical  with  the  "  Engeko  "  of  Battell ;  a 
discovery  which  has  been  confirmed  by  all  later  inquirers. 
Battell's  "  lesser  monster  "  being  thus  proved  to  be  a  veri- 
table existence,  of  course  a  strong  resumption  arose  that 
his  "  greater  monster,"  the  '  Pongo,'  would  sooner  or 
later  be  discovered.  And,  indeed,  a  modern  traveller, 
Bowdich,  had,  in  1819,  found  strong  evidence,  among  the 
natives,  of  the  existence  of  a  second  great  Ape,  called  the 
'  Ingena,'  "  five  feet  high,  and  four  across  the  shoulders," 
the  builder  of  a  rude  house,  on  the  outside  of  which  it 
slept. 

In  1847,  Dr.  Savage  had  the  good  fortune  to  make  an- 
other and  most  important  addition  to  our  knowledge  of 
the  man-like  Apes ;  for,  being  unexpectedly  detained  at 
the  Gaboon  river,  he  saw  in  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Wilson,  a  missionary  resident  there,  "  a  skull  represented 
by  the  natives  to  be  a  monkey-like  animal,  remarkable  for 
its  size,  ferocity,  and  habits."  From  the  contour  of  the 
skull,  and  the  information  derived  from  several  intelligent 
natives,  "  I  was  induced,"  says  Dr.  Savage,  (using  the 
term  Orang  in  its  old  general  sense)  "  to  believe  that  it 
belonged  to  a  new  species  of  Orang.  I  expressed  this 
opinion  to  Mr.  YvTilson,  with  a  desire  for  further  investiga- 

*  See  "  Observations  on  the  external  characters  and  habits  of  the  Troglo- 
dytes niger,  by  Thomas  X.  Savage,  M.  D.,  and  on  its  organization,  by  Jeffries 
Wyman,  M.  D.,"  Boston  Journal  of  Natural  History,  Vol.  IV.  1843-4;  and 
"External  characters,  habits,  and  osteology  of  Troglodytes  Gorilla,"  by  the 
same  authors,  ibid.  Vol.  V.  1847. 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  33 

tion ;  and,  if  possible,  to  decide  the  point  by  the  inspec- 
tion of  a  specimen  alive  or  dead."  The  result  of  the  com- 
bined exertions  of  Messrs.  Savage  and  Wilson  was  not 
only  the  obtaining  of  a  very  full  account  of  the  habits  of 
this  new  creature,  but  a  still  more  important  service  to  sci- 
ence, the  enabling  the  excellent  American  anatomist  al- 
ready mentioned,  Professor  Wyman,  to  describe,  from  am- 
ple materials,  the  distinctive  osteological  characters  of  the 
new  form.  This  animal  was  called  by  the  natives  of  the 
Gaboon  "  Enge-ena,"  a  name  obviously  identical  with  the 
"Ingena"  of  Bowdich ;  and  Dr.  Savage  arrived  at  the 
conviction  that  this  last  discovered  of  all  the  great  Apes 
was  the  long-sought  '  Pongo '  of  Battell. 

The  justice  of  this  conclusion,  indeed,  is  beyond  doubt 
— for  not  only  does  the  '  Enge-ena '  agree  with  Battell's 
"  greater  monster "  in  its  hollow  eyes,  its  great  stature, 
and  its  dun  or  iron-grey  colour,  but  the  only  other  man- 
like Ape  which  inhabits  these  latitudes — the  Chimpanzee 
— is  at  once  identified,  by  its  smaller  size,  as  ihe  "  lesser 
monster,"  and  is  excluded  from  any  possibility  of  being 
the  '  Pongo,'  by  the  fact  that  it  is  black  and  not  dun,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  important  circumstance  already  men- 
tioned that  it  still  retains  the  name  of  '  Engeko'  or  '  En- 
che-eko,'  by  which  Battell  knew  it. 

In  seeking  for  a  specific  name  for  the  '  Enge-ena,' 
however,  Dr.  Savage  wisely  avoided  the  much  misused 
'  Pongo ' ;  but  finding  in  the  ancient  Periplus  of  Hanno 
the  word  "  Gorilla  "  applied  to  certain  hairy  savage  peo- 
ple, discovered  by  the  Carthaginian  voyager  in  an  island 
on  the  African  coast,  he  attached  the  specific  name  "  Go- 
rilla," to  his  new  ape,  whence  arises  its  present  well- 
known  appellation.  But  Dr.  Savage,  more  cautious  than 
some  of  his  successors,  by  no  means  identifies  his  ape  with 
Hanno's  '  wild  men.'  He  merely  says  that  the  latter 
2* 


34  THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

were  "  probably  one  of  the  species  of  the  Orang  ; "  and  I 
quite  agree  with  M.  Brulle,  that  there  is  no  ground  for 
identifying  the  modern  '  Gorilla '  with  that  of  the  Cartha- 
ginian admiral. 

Since  the  memoir  of  Savage  and  "Wyman  was  pub- 
lished, the  skeleton  of  the  Gorilla  has  been  investigated 
by  Professor  Owen  and  by  the  late  Professor  Duvernoy, 
of  the  Jardin  des  Plantes,  the  latter  having  further  sup- 
plied a  valuable  account  of  the  muscular  system  and  of 
many  of  the  other  soft  parts  ;  while  African  missionaries 
and  travellers  have  coniirmed  and  expanded  the  account 
originally  given  of  the  habits  of  this  great  man-like  Ape, 
which  has  had  the  singular  fortune  of  being  the  first  to  be 
made  known  to  the  general  world  and  the  last  to  be  scien- 
tifically investigated. 

Two  centuries  and  a  half  have  passed  away  since  Bat- 
tell  told  his  stories  about  the  '  greater '  and  the  '  lesser 
monsters '  to  Purchas,  and  it  has  taken  nearly  that  time 
to  arrive  at  the  clear  result  that  there  are  four  distinct 
kinds  of  Anthropoids — in  Eastern  Asia,  the  Gibbons  and 
the  Orangs  ;  in  "Western  Africa,  the  Chimpanzees  and  the 
Gorilla. 

The  man-like  Apes,  the  history  of  whose  discovery  has 
just  been  detailed,  have  certain  characters  of  structure  and 
of  distribution  in  common.  Thus  they  all  have  the  same 
number  of  teeth  as  man — possessing  four  incisors,  two 
canines,  four  false  molars,  and  six  true  molars  in  each 
jaw,  or  32  teeth  in  all,  in  the  adult  condition ;  while  the 
milk  dentition  consists  of  20  teeth — or  four  incisors,  two 
canines,  and  four  molars  in  each  jaw.  They  are  what  are 
called  catarrhine  Apes — that  is,  their  nostrils  have  a  nar- 
row partition  and  look  downwards ;  and,  furthermore, 
their  arms  are  always  longer  than  their  legs,  the  differ- 


THE   MAN-LIKE    APES.  35 

ence  being  sometimes  greater  and  sometimes  less  ;  so  that 
if  the  four  were  arranged  in  the  order  of  the  length  of 
their  arms  in  proportion  to  that  of  their  legs,  we  should 
have  this  series — Orang  (l£ — 1),  Gibbon  (l£ — 1),  Gorilla 
(l£ — 1),  Chimpanzee  (ly'g — 1).  In  all,  the  fore  limbs  are 
terminated  by  hands,  provided  with  longer  or  shorter 
thumbs ;  while  the  great  toe  of  the  foot,  always  smaller, 
than  in  Man,  is  far  more  moveable  than  in  him  and  can 
be  opposed,  like  a  thumb,  to  the  rest  of  the  foot.  None 
of  these  apes  have  tails,  and  none  of  them  possess  the 
cheek-pouches  common  among  monkeys.  Finally,  they 
are  all  inhabitants  of  the  old  world. 

The  Gibbons  are  the  smallest,  slenderest,  and  longest- 
limbed  of  the  man-like  apes :  their  arms  are  longer  in 
proportion  to  their  bodies  than  those  of  any  of  the  other 
man-like  Apes,  so  that  they  can  touch  the  ground  when 
erect ;  their  hands  are  longer  than  their  feet,  and  they 
are  the  only  Anthropoids  which  possess  callosities  like  the 
lower  monkeys.  They  are  variously  coloured.  The 
Orangs  have  arms  which  reach  to  the  ankles  in  the  erect 
position  of  the  animal ;  their  thumbs  and  great  toes  are 
very  short,  and  their  feet  are  longer  than  their  hands. 
They  are  covered  with  reddish-brown  hair,  and  the  sides 
of  the  face,  in  adult  males,  are  commonly  produced  into 
two  crescentic,  flexible  excrescences,  like  fatty  tumours. 
The  Chimpanzees  have  arms  which  reach  below  the 
knees ;  they  have  large  thumbs  and  great  toes,  their 
hands  are  longer  than  their  feet,  and  their  hair  is  black, 
while  the  skin  of  the  face  is  pale.  The  Gorilla,  lastly,  has 
arms  which  reach  to  the  middle  of  the  leg,  large  thumbs, 
and  great  toes,  feet  longer  than  the  hands,  a  black  face, 
and  dark-grey  or  dun  hair. 

For  the  purpose  which  1  have  at  present  in  view,  it  is 
unnecessary  that  I  should  enter  into  any  further  minutia3 


36  THE    NATURAL    HISTORY   OF 

respecting  the  distinctive  characters  of  the  genera  and 
species  into  which  these  man-like  Apes  are  divided  by 
naturalists.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  Orangs  and  the 
Gibbons  constitute  the  distinct  genera,  Simia  and  HyU- 
bates  '  while  the  Chimpanzees  and  Gorillas  are  by  some 
regarded  simply  as  distinct  species  of  one  genus,  Troglo- 
dytes; by  others  as  distinct  genera—  Troglodyte*  being 
reserved  for  the  Chimpanzees,  and  Gor'dla  for  the  Enge- 
ena  or  Pongo. 

Sound  knowledge  respecting  the  habits  and  mode  of 
life  of  the  man-like  Apes  has  been  even  more  difficult  of 
attainment  than  correct  information  regarding  their  struc- 
ture. 

Once  in  a  generation,  a  Wallace  may  be  found  physic- 
ally, mentally,  and  morally  qualified  to  wander  unscathed 
through  the  tropical  wilds  of  America  and  of  Asia ;  to 
form  magnificent  collections  as  he  wanders ;  and  withal 
to  think  out  sagaciously  the  conclusions  suggested  by  his 
collections  :  but,  to  the  ordinary  explorer  or  collector,  the 
dense  forests  of  equatorial  Asia  and  Africa,  which  consti- 
tute the  favourite  habitation  of  the  Orang,  the  Chimpan- 
zee, and  the  Gorilla,  present  difficulties,  of  no  ordinary 
magnitude :  and  the  man  who  risks  his  life  by  even  a 
short  visit  to  the  malarious  shores  of  those  regions  may 
well  be  excused  if  he  shrinks  from  facing  the  dangers  of 
the  interior  ;  if  he  contents  himself  with  stimulating  the 
industry  of  the  better  seasoned  natives,  and  collecting  and 
-collating  the  more  or  less  mythical  reports  and  traditions 
with  which  they  are  too  ready  to  supply  him. 

In  such  a  manner  most  of  the  earlier  accounts  of  the 
habits  of  the  man-like  Apes  originated ;  and  even  now  a 
good  deal  of  what  passes  current  must  be  admitted  to 
have  no  very  safe  foundation.  The  best  information  we 


TUE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  37 

possess  is  that,  based  almost  wholly  on  direct  European 
testimony,  respecting  the  Gibbons  ;  the  next  best  evidence 
relates  to  the  Orangs  ;  while  our  knowledge  of  the  habits 
of  the  Chimpanzee  and  the  Gorilla  stands  much  in  need 
of  support  and  enlargement  by  additional  testimony  from 
instructed  European  eye-witnesses. 

It  will  therefore  be  convenient  in  endeavouring  to 
form  a  notion  of  what  we  are  justified  in  believing  about 
these  animals,  to  commence  with  the  best  known  man-like 
Apes,  the  Gibbons  and  Orangs  ;  and  to  make  use  of  the 
perfectly  reliable  information  respecting  them  as  a  sort  of 
criterion  of  the  probable  truth  or  falsehood  of  assertions 
respecting  the  others. 

Of  the  GIBBONS,  half  a  dozen  species  are  found  scat- 
tered over  the  Asiatic  islands,  Java,  Sumatra,  Borneo, 
and  through  Malacca,  Siam,  Arracan,  and  an  uncertain 
extent  of  Hindostan  on  the  main  land  of  Asia.  The 
largest  attain  a  few  inches  above  three  feet  in  height, 
from  the  crown  to  the  heel,  so  that  they  are  shorter  than 
the  other  man-like  Apes ;  while  the  slenderness  of  their 
bodies  renders  their  mass  far  smaller  in  proportion  even 
to  this  diminished  height. 

Dr.  Salomon  Miiller,  an  accomplished  Dutch  natural- 
ist, who  lived  for  many  years  in  the  Eastern  Archipelago, 
and  to  the  results  of  whose  personal  experience  I  shall 
frequently  have  occasion  to  refer,  states  that  the  Gibbons 
are  true  mountaineers,  loving  the  slopes  and  edges  of  the 
hills,  though  they  rarely  ascend  beyond  the  limit  of  the 
fig-trees.  All  day  long  they  haunt  the  tops  of  the  tall 
trees ;  and  though,  towards  evening,  they  descend  in 
small  troops  to  the  open  ground,  no  sooner  do  they  spy  a 
man  than  they  dart  up  the  hillsides  and  disappear  in  the 
darker  valleys. 

All  observers  testify  to  the  prodigious  volume  of  voice 

1  3  N  1  7 


38 


THE    NATURAL    HISTORY    OF 


possessed  by  these   animals.     According  to   the   writer 
whom  I  have  just  cited,  in  one  of  them,  the  Siamang, 


FIG.  8. — A  Gibbon  (H.  pileatus),  after  Wolf. 


THE   MAN-LIKE    APES.  39 

"  the  voice  is  grave  and  penetrating,  resembling  the 
sounds  goek,  goek,  goek,  goek,  goek  ha  ha  ha  ha  haauaa, 
and  may  be  easily  heard  at  a  distance  of  half  a  league." 
While  the  cry  is  being  uttered,  the  great  membranous  bag 
under  the  throat  which  communicates  with  the  organ  of 
voice,  the  so-called  "  laryngeal  sac,"  becomes  greatly  dis- 
tended, diminishing  again  when  the  creature  relapses  into 
silence. 

M.  Duvaucel,  likewise,  affirms  that  the  cry  of  the  Sia- 
mang  may  be  heard  for  miles — making  the  woods  ring 
again.  So  Mr.  Martin*  describes  the  cry  of  the  agile 
Gibbon  as  "  over-powering  and  deafening "  in  a  room, 
and  "  from  its  strength,  well  calculated  for  resounding 
through  the  vast  forests."  Mr.  Waterhouse,  an  accom- 
plished musician  as  well  as  zoologist,  says,  "  The  Gibbon's 
voice  is  certainly  much  more  powerful  than  that  of  any 
singer  I  ever  heard."  And  yet  it  is  to  be  recollected  that 
this  animal  is  not  half  the  height  of,  and  far  less  bulky  in 
proportion  than,  a  man. 

There  is  good  testimony  that  various  species  of  Gibbon 
readily  take  to  the  erect  posture.  Mr.  George  Bennett,f 
a  very  excellent  observer,  in  describing  the  habits  of  a 
male  Hylobates  syndactylus  which  remained  for  some 
time  in  his  possession,  says  :  "  He  invariably  walks  in  the 
erect  posture  when  on  a  level  surface  ;  and  then  the  arms 
either  hang  down,  enabling  him  to  assist  himself  with  his 
knuckles ;  or  what  is  more  usual,  he  keeps  his  arms  up- 
lifted in  nearly  an  erect  position,  with  the  hands  pendent 
ready  to  seize  a  rope,  and  climb  up  on  the  approach  of 
danger  or  on  the  obtrusion  of  strangers.  He  walks  rather 
quick  in  the  erect  posture,  but  with  a  waddling  gait,  and 
is  soon  run  down  if,  whilst  pursued,  he  has  no  opportunity 

*  "  Man  and  Monkies,"  p.  423. 

f  "Wanderings  in  New  South  Wales,  Vol.  II.  chap.  viii.  1834. 


4:0  THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

of  escaping  by  climbing.  .  .  .  When  he  walks  in  the 
erect  posture,  he  turns  the  leg  and  foot  outwards,  which 
occasions  him  to  have  a  waddling  gait  and  to  seem  bow- 
legged." 

Dr.  Burrough  states  of  another  Gibbon,  the  Horlack 
or  Hooluk : 

"  They  walk  erect ;  and  wrhen  placed  on  the  floor,  or 
in  an  open  field,  balance  themselves  very  prettily  by  rais- 
ing their  hands  over  their  head  and  slightly  bending  the 
arm  at  the  wrist  and  elbow,  and  then  run  tolerably  fast, 
rocking  from  side  to  side ;  and,  if  urged  to  greater  speed, 
they  let  fall  their  hands  to  the  ground,  and  assist  them- 
selves forward,  rather  jumping  than  running,  still  keeping 
the  body,  however,  nearly  erect." 

Somewhat  different  evidence,  however,  is  given  by 
Dr.  Win  slow  Lewis  :* 

"  Their  only  manner  of  walking  was  on  their  posterioi 
or  inferior  extremities,  the  others  being  raised  upwards  to 
preserve  their  equilibrium,  as  rope-dancers  are  assisted  by 
long  poles  at  fairs.  Their  progression  was  not  by  placing 
one  foot  before  the  other,  but  by  simultaneously  using 
both,  as  in  jumping."  Dr.  Salomon  Miiller  also  states 
that  the  Gibbons  progress  upon  the  ground  by  short  series 
of  tottering  jumps,  effected  only  by  the  hind  limbs,  the 
body  being  held  altogether  upright. 

But,  Mr.  Martin,  (1.  c.  p.  418)  who  also  speaks  from 
direct  observation,  says  of  the  Gibbons  generally  : 

"  Pre-eminently  qualified  for  arboreal  habits,  and  dis- 
playing among  the  branches  amazing  activity,  the  Gib- 
bons are  not  so  awkward  or  embarrassed  on  a  level  surface 
as  might  be  imagined.  They  walk  erect,  with  a  waddling 
or  unsteady  gait,  but  at  a  quick  pace  ;  the  equilibrium  of 

*  Boston  Journal  of  Natural  History,  Vol.  I.  1834. 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  4:1 

the  body  requiring  to  be  kept  up,  either  by  touching  the 
ground  with  the  knuckles,  first  on  one  side  then  on  the 
other,  or  by  uplifting  the  arms  so  as  to  poise  it.  As  with 
the  Chimpanzee,  the  whole  of  the  narrow,  long  sole  of  the 
foot  is  placed  upon  the  ground  at  once  and  raised  at  once, 
without  any  elasticity  of  step." 

After  this  mass  of  concurrent  and  independent  testi- 
mony, it  cannot  reasonably  be  doubted  that  the  Gibbons 
commonly  and  habitually  assume  the  erect  attitude. 

But  level  ground  is  not  the  place  where  these  animals 
can  display  their  very  remarkable  and  peculiar  locomotive 
powers,  and  that  prodigious  activity  wThich  almost  tempts 
one  to  rank  them  among  flying,  rather  than  among  ordi- 
nary climbing  mammals. 

Mr.  Martin  (1.  c.  p.  430)  has  given  so  excellent  and 
graphic  an  account  of  the  movements  of  a  Hylobatcs 
agilis,  living  in  the  Zoological  Gardens,  in  1840,  that  I 
will  quote  it  in  full : 

"  It  is  almost  impossible  to  convey  in  words  an  idea  of 
the  quickness  and  graceful  address  of  her  movements : 
they  may  indeed  be  termed  aerial  as  she  seems  merely  to 
touch  in  her  progress  the  branches  among  which  she  ex- 
hibits her  evolutions.  In  these  feats  her  hands  and  arms 
are  the  sole  organs  of  locomotion  ;  her  body  hanging  as  if 
suspended  by  a  rope,  sustained  by  one  hand  (the  right,  for 
example),  she  launches  herself,  by  an  energetic  movement, 
to  a  distant  branch,  which  she  catches  with  the  left  hand  ; 
but  her  hold  is  less  than  momentary  :  the  impulse  for  the 
next  launch  is  acquired  :  the  branch  then  aimed  at  is  at- 
tained by  the  right  hand  again,  and  quitted  instantane- 
ously, and  so  on,  in  alternate  succession.  In  this  manner 
spaces  of  twelve  and  eighteen  feet  are  cleared,  with  the 
greatest  ease  and  uninterruptedly,  for  hours  together, 
without  the  slightest  appearance  of  fatigue  being  mani- 


42 

fested ;  and  it  is  evident  that,  if  more  space  could  be  al- 
lowed, distances  very  greatly  exceeding  eighteen  feet 
would  be  as  easily  cleared ;  so  that  Duvaucel's  assertion 
that  he  has  seen  these  animals  launch  themselves  from  one 
branch  to  another,  forty  feet  asunder,  startling  as  it  is, 
may  be  well  credited.  Sometimes,  on  seizing  a  branch  in 
her  progress,  she  will  throw  herself  by  the  power  of  one 
arm  only,  completely  round  it,  making  a  revolution  with 
such  rapidity  as  almost  to  deceive  the  eye,  and  continue 
her  progress  with  undiminished  velocity.  It  is  singular 
to  observe  how  suddenly  this  Gibbon  can  stop,  when  the 
impetus  given  by  the  rapidity  and  distance  of  her  swing- 
ing leaps  would  seem  to  require  a  gradual  abatement  of 
her  movements.  In  the  very  midst  of  her  flight  a  branch 
is  seized,  the  body  raised,  and  she  is  seen,  as  if  by  magic, 
quietly  seated  on  it,  grasping  it  with  her  feet.  As  sud- 
denly she  again  throws  herself  into  action. 

"  The  following  facts  will  convey  some  notion  of  her 
dexterity  and  quickness.  A  live  bird  was  let  loose  in  her 
apartment ;  she  marked  its  flight,  made  a  long  swing  to  a 
distant  branch,  caught  the  bird  with  one  hand  in  her  pas- 
sage, and  attained  the  branch  with  her  other  hand ;  her 
aim,  both  at  the  bird  and  at  the  branch,  being  as  success- 
ful as  if  one  object  only  had  engaged  her  attention.  It 
may  be  added  that  she  instantly  bit  off  the  head  of  the 
bird,  picked  its  feathers,  and  then  threw  it  down  without 
attempting  to  eat  it. 

"  On  another  occasion  this  animal  swung  herself  from 
a  perch,  across  a  passage  at  least  twelve  feet  wide,  against 
a  window  which  it  was  thought  would  be  immediately 
broken  :  but  not  so  ;  to  the  surprise  of  all,  she  caught  the 
narrow  framework  between  the  panes  with  her  hand,  in 
an  instant  attained  the  proper  impetus,  and  sprang  back 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  43 

again  to  the  cage  she  had  left — a  feat  requiring  not  only 
great  strength,  but  the  nicest  precision." 

The  Gibbons  appear  to  be  naturally  very  gentle,  but 
there  is  very  good  evidence  that  they  will  bite  severely 
when  irritated— a  female  Hylolatcs  agilis  having  so  se- 
verely lacerated  one  man  with  her  long  canines,  that  he 
died  ;  while  she  had  injured  others  so  much  that,  by  way 
of  precaution,  these  formidable  teeth  had  been  filed  down ; 
but,  if  threatened,  she  would  still  turn  on  her  keeper. 
The  Gibbons  eat  insects,  but  appear  generally  to  avoid 
animal  food.  A  Siamang,  however,  wras  seen  by  Mr. 
Bennett  to  seize  and  devour  greedily  a  live  lizard.  They 
commonly  drink  by  dipping  their  lingers  in  the  liquid 
and  then  licking  them.  It  is  asserted  that  they  sleep  in  a 
sitting  posture. 

Duvaucel  affirms  that  he  has  seen  the  females  carry 
their  young  to  the  waterside  and  there  wash  their  faces, 
in  spite  of  resistance  and  cries.  They  are  gentle  and 
affectionate  in  captivity — full  of  tricks  and  pettishness, 
like  spoiled  children,  and  yet  not  devoid  of  a  certain  con- 
science, as  an  anecdote,  told  by  Mr.  Bennett  (1.  c.  p.  156), 
will  show.  It  would  appear  that  his  Gibbon  had  a  pecu- 
liar inclination  for  disarranging  things  in  the  cabin. 
Among  these  articles,  a  piece  of  soap  would  especially 
attract  his  notice,  and  for  the  removal  of  this  he  had  been 
once  or  twice  scolded.  "  One  morning,"  says  Mr.  Ben- 
nett, "  I  was  writing,  the  ape  being  present  in  the  cabin, 
when  casting  my  eyes  towards  him,  I  saw  the  little  fellow 
taking  the  soap.  I  watched  him  without  his  perceiving 
that  I  did  so :  and  he  occasionally  would  cast  a  furtive 
glance  towards  the  place  where  I  sat.  I  pretended  to 
write  ;  he,  seeing  me  busily  occupied,  took  the  soap,  and 
moved  away  with  it  in  his  paw.  When  he  had  walked 


44 


THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 


half  the  length  of  the  cabin,  I  spoke  quietly,  without 
frightening  him.  The  instant  he  found  1  saw  him,  he 
walked  back  again,  and  deposited  the  soap  nearly  in  the 
same  place  from  whence  he  had  taken  it.  There  was 


FIG.  9. — An  adult  male  Orang-Utan,  after  Muller  and  Schlegel. 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  45 

certainly  something  more  than  instinct  in  that  action  :  he 
evidently  betrayed  a  consciousness  of  having  done  wrong 
both  by  his  first  and  last  actions — and  what  is  reason  if 
that  is  not  an  exercise  of  it  ?  " 

The  most  elaborate  account  of  the  natural  history  of 
the  ORANG-UTAN  extant,  is  that  given  in  the  "  Verhande- 
lingen  over  de  Natuurlijke  Geschiedenis  der  Neder- 
landsche  overzeesche  Bezittingen  (1839-45),"  by  Dr.  Sal- 
omon Miiller  and  Dr.  Schlegel,  and  I  shall  base  what  I 
have  to  say  upon  this  subject  almost  entirely  on  their 
statements,  adding,  here  and  there,  particulars  of  interest 
from  the  writings  of  Brooke,  Wallace,  and  others. 

The  Orang-Utan  would  rarely  seem  to  exceed  four  feet 
in  height,  but  the  body  is  very  bulky,  measuring  two- 
thirds  of  the  height  in  circumference.* 

The  Orang-Utan  is  found  only  in  Sumatra  and  Bor- 
neo, and  is  common  in  neither  of  these  islands — in  both 
of  which  it  occurs  always  in  low,  flat  plains,  never  in  the 
mountains.  It  loves  the  densest  and  most  sombre  of  the 
forests,  which  extend  from  the  sea-shore  inland,  and  thus 
is  found  only  in  the  eastern  half  of  Sumatra,  where  alone 

*  The  largest  Orang-Utan,  cited  by  Temminck,  measured,  when  standing 
upright,  four  i'eet;  but  he  mentions  having  just  received  news  of  the  capture 
of  an  Orang  five  feet  three  inches  high.  Schlegel  and  Miiller  say  that  their 
largest  old  male  measured,  upright,  1.25  Netherlands  "el;"  and  from  the 
crown  to  the  end  of  the  toes,  1.5  el ;  the  circumference  of  the  body  being 
about  1  cl.  The  largest  old  female  was  1.09  el  high,  when  standing.  The 
adult  skeleton  in  the  College  of  Surgeons'  Museum,  if  set  upright,  would 
stand  3  feet  6-8  in.  from  crown  to  sole.  Dr.  Humphry  gives  3  ft.  8  in.  as  the 
mean  height  of  two  Orangs.  Of  seventeen  Orangs  examined  by  Mr.  Wallace, 
the  largest  was  4  ft.  2  in.  high,  from  the  heel  to  the  crown  of  the  head.  Mr 
Spencer  St.  John,  however,  in  his  "  Life  in  the  Forests  of  the  Far  East,"  tells 
us  of  an  Orang  of  "6  ft.  2  in.,  measuring  fairly  from  the  head  to  the  heel," 
15  in.  across  the  face,  and  12  in.  round  the  wrist.  It  does  not  appear,  how- 
ever, that  Mr.  St.  John  measured  this  Orang  himself. 


46  THE   NATURAL   HISTORY    OF 

such  forests  occur,  though,  occasionally,  it  strays  over  to 
the  western  side. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  generally  distributed  through 
Borneo,  except  in  the  mountains,  or  where  the  population 
is  dense.  In  favourable  places,  the  hunter  may,  by  good 
fortune,  see  three  or  four  in  a  day. 

Except  in  the  pairing  time,  the  old  males  usually  live 
by  themselves.  The  old  females,  and  the  immature 
males,  on  the  other  hand,  are  often  met  with  in  twos  and 
threes ;  and  the  former  occasionally  have  young  with 
them,  though  the  pregnant  females  usually  separate  them- 
selves, and  sometimes  remain  apart  after  they  have  given 
birth  to  their  offspring.  The  young  Orangs  seem  to  re- 
main unusually  long  under  their  mother's  protection, 
probably  in  consequence  of  their  slow  growth.  "While 
climbing,  the  mother  always  carries  her  young  against 
her  bosom,  the  young  holding  on  by  his  mother's  hair.* 
At  what  time  of  life  the  Orang-Utan  becomes  capable  of 
propagation,  and  how  long  the  females  go  with  young,  is 
unknown,  but  it  is  probable  that  they  are  not  adult  until 
they  arrive  at  ten  or  fifteen  years  of  age.  A  female  which 
lived  for  five  years  at  Batavia,  had  not  attained  one-third 
the  height  of  the  wild  females.  It  is  probable  that,  after 
reaching  adult  years,  they  go  on  growing,  though  slowly, 
and  that  they  live  to  forty  or  fifty  years.  The  Dyaks  tell 
of  old  Orangs,  which  have  not  only  lost  all  their  teeth, 
but  which  find  it  so  troublesome  to  climb,  that  they  main- 
tain themselves  on  windfalls  and  juicy  herbage. 

The  Orang  is  sluggish,  exhibiting  none  of  that  marvel- 

*  See  Mr.  Wallace's  account  of  an  infant  "  Orang-Utan,"  in  the  "  Annals 
of  Natural  History"  for  1856.  Mr.  Wallace  provided  his  interesting  charge 
with  an  artificial  mother  of  buffalo-skin,  but  the  cheat  was  too  successful. 
The  infant's  entire  experience  led  it  to  associate  teats  with  hair,  and  feeling 
the  latter,  it  spent  its  existence  in  rain  endeavours  to  discover  the  former. 


THE   MAN-LIKE    APES.  47 

lous  activity  characteristic  of  the  Gibbons.     Hunger  alone 
seems  to  stir  him  to  exertion,  and  when  it  is  stilled,  he 
relapses  into  repose.     When  the  animal  sits,  it  curves  its 
back  and  bows  its  head,  so  as  to  look  straight  down  on 
the  ground ;  sometimes  it  holds  on  with  its  hands  by  a 
higher  branch,  sometimes  lets  them  hang  phlegmatically 
down  by  its  side — and  in  these  positions  the  Orang  will 
remain,  for  hours  together,  in  the  same  spot,  almost  with- 
out stirring,  and  only  now  and  then  giving  utterance  to 
its  deep,  growling  voice.     By  day,  he  usually  climbs  from 
one  tree-top  to  another,  and  only  at  night  descends  to  the 
ground,  and  if  then  threatened  with  danger,  he  seeks  ref- 
uge among  the  underwood.     When  not  hunted,  he  re- 
mains a  long  time  in  the  same  locality,  and  sometimes 
stops  for  many  days  on  the  same  tree — a  firm  place  among 
its  branches  serving  him  for  a  bed.     It  is  rare  for  the 
Orang  to  pass  the  night  in  the  summit  of  a  large  tree, 
probably  because  it  is  too  windy  and  cold  there  for  him  ; 
but,  as  soon  as  night  draws  on,  he  descends  from  the 
height  and  seeks  out  a  fit  bed  in  the  lower  and  darker 
part,  or  in  the  leafy  top  of  a  small  tree,  among  which  he 
prefers  Nibong  Palms,  Pandani,  or  one  of  those  parasitic 
Orchids  which  give  the  primaeval  forests  of  Borneo  so 
characteristic  and  striking  an  appearance.     But  wherever , 
he  determines  to  sleep,  there  he  prepares  himself  a  sort  of 
nest :  little  boughs  and  leaves  are  drawn  together  round 
the  selected  spot,  and  bent  crosswise  over  one  another/ 
while  to  make  the  bed  soft,  great  leaves  of  Ferns,  of  Or- 
chids, of  Pandanusfascicularis,  Nipa  fruticans^  &c.,  are 
laid  over  them.     Those  which  Miiller  saw,  many  of  them 
being  very  fresh,  were  situated  at  a  height  of  ten  to  twen- 
ty-five feet  above  the  ground,  and  had  a  circumference,  on 
the  average,  of  two  or  three  feet.     Some  were  packed 
many  inches  thick  with  Pandanus  leaves ;  others  were 


4:8  THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

remarkable  only  for  the  cracked  twigs,  winch,  united  in  a 
common  centre,  formed  a  regular  platform.  "  The  rude 
hut"  says  Sir  James  Brooke,  "  which  they  are  stated  to 
build  in  the  trees,  -would  be  more  properly  called  a  seat  or 
nest,  for  it  has  no  roof  or  cover  of  any  sort.  The  facility 
with  which  they  form  this  nest  is  curious,  and  I  had  an 
opportunity  of  seeing  a  wounded  female  weave  the 
branches  together  and  seat  herself,  within  a  minute." 

According  to  the  Dyaks  the  Orang  rarely  leaves  his 
bed  before  the  sun  is  well  above  the  horizon  and  has  dissi- 
pated the  mists.  He  gets  up  about  nine,  and  goes  to  bed 
again  about  five ;  but  sometimes  not  till  late  in  the  twilight. 
He  lies  sometimes  on  his  back ;  or,  by  way  of  change, 
turns  on  one  side  or  the  other,  drawing  his  limbs  up  to 
his  body,  and  resting  his  head  on  his  hand.  "When  the 
night  is  cold,  windy,  or  rainy,  he  usually  covers  his  body 
with  a  heap  of  Pandanus,  JVipa,  or  Fern  leaves,  like 
those  of  which  his  bed  is  made,  and  he  is  especially  care- 
ful to  wrap  up  his  head  in  them.  It  is  this  habit  of  cover- 
ing himself  up  which  has  probably  led  to  the  fable  that 
the  Orang  builds  huts  in  the  trees. 

Although  the  Orang  resides  mostly  amid  the  boughs 
of  great  trees,  during  the  daytime,  he  is  very  rarely  seen 
squatting  on  a  thick  branch  as  other  apes  and  particularly 
the  Gibbons,  do.  The  Orang,  on  the  contrary,  confines  him- 
self to  the  slender  leafy  branches,  so  that  he  is  seen  right  at 
the  top  of  the  trees,  a  mode  of  life  which  is  closely  related 
to  the  constitution  of  his  hinder  limbs,  and  especially  to 
that  of  his  seat.  For  this  is  provided  with  no  callosities, 
such  as  are  possessed  by  many  of  the  lower  apes,  and  even 
by  the  Gibbons  ;  and  those  bones  of  the  pelvis,  which  are 
termed  the  ischia,  and  which  form  the  solid  framework  of 
the  surface  on  which  the  body  rests  in  the  sitting  posture, 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  49 

are  not  expanded  like  those  of  the  apes  which  possess  cal- 
losities, but  are  more  like  those  of  man. 

An  Orang  climbs  so  slowly  and  cautiously,*  as,  in  this 
act,  to  resemble  a  man  more  than  an  ape,  taking  great 
care  of  his  feet,  so  that  injury  of  them  seems  to  affect  him 
far  more  than  it  does  other  apes.  Unlike  the  Gibbons, 
whose  forearms  do  the  greater  part  of  the  wrork,  as  they 
swing  from  branch  to  branch,  the  Orang  never  makes 
even  the  smallest  jump.  In  climbing,  he  moves  alter- 
nately one  hand  and  one  foot,  or  after  having  laid  fast 
hold  with  the  hands,  he  draws  up  both  feet  together.  In 
passing  from  one  tree  to  another,  he  always  seeks  out  a 
place  where  the  twigs  of  both  come  close  together,  or  in- 
terlace. Even  when  closely  pursued,  his  circumspection 
is  amazing  :  he  shakes  the  branches  to  see  if  they  will  bear 
him,  and  then  bending  an  overhanging  bough  down  by 
throwing  his  weight  gradually  along  it,  he  makes  a  bridge 
from  the  tree  he  wishes  to  quit  to  the  next.f 

On  the  ground  the  Orang  always  goes  laboriously  and 
shakily,  on  all  fours.  At  starting  he  will  run  faster  than 
a  man,  though  he  may  soon  be  overtaken.  The  very  long 
arms  which,  when  he  runs,  are  but  little  bent,  raise  the 
body  of  the  Orang  remarkably,  so  that  he  assumes  much 
the  posture  of  a  very  old  man  bent  down  by  age,  and 
making  his  way  along  by  the  help  of  a  stick.  In  walking, 
the  body  is  usually  directed  straight  forward,  unlike  the 
other  apes,  which  run  more  or  less  obliquely  ;  except  the 
Gibbons,  who  in  these,  as  in  so  many  other  respects,  de- 
part remarkably  from  their  fellows. 

*  "  They  are  the  slowest  and  least  active  of  all  the  monkey  tribe,  and  their 
motions  are  surprisingly  awkward  and  uncouth." — Sir  James  Brooke,  in  the 
"Proceedings  of  the  Zoological  Society,"  1841. 

f  Mr.  Wallace's  account  of  the  progression  of  the  Orang  almost  exactly 
corresponds  with  this. 
3 


50  THE   NATUKAL   HISTORY   OF 

The  Orang  cannot  put  its  feet  flat  on  the  ground,  but 
is  supported  upon  their  outer  edges,  the  heel  resting  more 
on  the  ground,  while  the  curved  toes  partly  rest  upon  the 
ground  by  the  upper  side  of  their  first  joint,  the  two  out- 
ermost toes  of  each  foot  completely  resting  on  this  surface. 
The  hands  are  held  in  the  opposite  manner,  their  inner 
edges  serving  as  th«  chief  support.  The  fingers  are  then 
bent  out  in  such  a  manner  that  their  foremost  joints,  es- 
pecially those  of  the  two  innermost  fingers,  rest  upon  the 
ground  by  their  upper  sides,  while  the  point  of  the  free 
and  straight  thumb  serves  as  an  aditional  fulcrum. 

The  Orang  never  stands  on  its  hind  legs,  and  all  the 
pictures,  representing  it  as  so  doing,  are  as  false  as  the 
assertion  that  it  defends  itself  with  sticks,  and  the  like. 

The  long  arms  are  of  especial  use,  not  only  in  climb- 
ing, but  in  the  gathering  of  food  from  boughs  to  which 
the  animal  could  not  trust  his  weight.  Figs,  blossoms, 
and  young  leaves  of  various  kinds,  constitute  the  chief  nu- 
triment of  the  Orang  ;  but  strips  of  bamboo  two  or  three 
feet  long  were  found  in  the  stomach  of  a  male.  They  are 
not  known  to  eat  living  animals. 

Although,  when  taken  young,  the  Orang-Utan  soon 
becomes  domesticated,  and  indeed  seems  to  court  human 
society,  it  is  naturally  a  very  wild  and  shy  animal,  though 
apparently  sluggish  and  melancholy.  The  Dyaks  affirm, 
that  when  the  old  males  are  wounded  with  arrows  only, 
they  will  occasionally  leave  the  trees  and  rush  raging 
upon  their  enemies,  whose  sole  safety  lies  in  instant  flight, 
as  they  are  sure  to  be  killed  if  caught.* 

*  Sir  James  Brooke,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Water-house,  published  in  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Zoological  Society  for  1841,  says: — "On  the  habits  of  the 
Orangs,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  observe  them,  I  may  remark  that  they 
are  as  dull  and  slothful  as  can  well  be  conceived,  and  on  no  occasion,  when 
pursuing  them,  did  they  move  BO  fast  as  to  preclude  my  keeping  pace  with 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  51 

But,  though  possessed  of  immense  strength,  it  is  rare 
for  the  Orang  to  attempt  to  defend  itself,  especially  when 
attacked  with  fire-arms.  On  such  occasions  he  endeavours 
to  hide  himself,  or  to  escape  along  the  topmost  branches 
of  the  trees,  breaking  off  and  throwing  down  the  boughs 
as  he  goes.  When  wounded  he  betakes  himself  to  the 
highest  attainable  point  of  the  tree,  and  emits  a  singular 
cry,  consisting  at  first  of  high  notes,  which  at  length 
deepen  into  a  low  roar,  not  unlike  that  of  a  panther. 
While  giving  out  the  high  notes  the  Orang  thrusts  out  his 
lips  into  a  funnel  shape  ;  but  in  uttering  the  low  notes  he 
holds  his  mouth  wide  open,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
great  throat  bag,  or  laryngeal  sac,  becomes  distended. 

According  to  the  Dyaks,  the  only  animal  the  Orang 
measures  his  strength  with  is  the  crocodile,  who  occasion- 
ally seizes  him  on  his  visits  to  the  water  side.  But  they 

them  easily  through  a  moderately  clear  forest ;  and  even  when  obstructions 
below  (such  as  wading  up  to  the  neck)  allowed  them  to  get  away  some  dis- 
tance, they  were  sure  to  stop  and  allow  me  to  come  up.  I  never  observed 
the  slightest  attempt  at  defence,  and  the  wood  which  sometimes  rattled  about 
our  ears  was  broken  by  their  weight,  and  not  thrown,  as  some  persons  repre- 
sent. If  pushed  to  extremity,  however,  the  Pappan  could  not  be  otherwise 
than  formidable,  and  one  unfortunate  man,  who,  with  a  party,  was  trying  to 
catch  a  large  one  alive,  lost  two  of  his  fingers,  besides  being  severely  bitten 
on  the  face,  whilst  the  animal  finally  beat  off  his  pursuers  and  escaped." 

Mr.  Wallace,  on  the  other  hand,  affirms  that  he  has  several  times  observed 
them  throwing  down  branches  when  pursued.  "  It  is  true  he  does  not  throw 
them  at  a  person,  but  casts  them  down  vertically  ;  for  it  is  evident  that  a 
bough  cannot  be  thrown  to  any  distance  from  the  top  of  a  lofty  tree.  In  one 
case  a  female  Mias,  on  a  durian  tree,  kept  up  for  at  least  ten  minutes  a  con- 
tinuous shower  of  branches  and  of  the  heavy,  spined  fruits,  as  large  as  32- 
pounders,  which  most  effectually  kept  us  clear  of  the  tree  she  was  on.  She 
could  be  seen  breaking  them  off  and  throwing  them  down  with  every  appear- 
ance of  rage,  uttering  at  intervals  a  loud  pumping  grunt,  and  evidently  mean- 
ing mischief." — "  On  the  habits  of  the  Orang^Utan,"  Annals  of  Nat.  History. 
1856.  This  statement,  it  will  be  observed,  is  quite  in  accordance  with  that 
contained  in  the  letter  of  the  Resident  Palm  quoted  above  (p.  16). 


52  THE   NATUKAL   HISTOEY   OF 

say  that  ths  Orang  is  more  than  a  match  for  his  enemy, 
and  beats  him  to  death,  or  rips  up  his  throat  by  pulling 
the  jaws  asunder ! 

Much  of  what  has  been  here  stated  was  probably  de- 
rived by  Dr.  M  tiller  from  the  reports  of  his  Dyak  hunters ; 
but  a  large  male,  four  feet  high,  lived  in  captivity  under 
his  observation,  for  a  month,  and  receives  a  very  bad  char- 
acter. 

"  He  was  a  very  wild  beast,"  says  Miiller,  "  of  prodi- 
gious strength,  and  false  and  wicked  to  the  last  degree. 
If  any  one  approached  he  rose  up  slowly  with  a  low  growl, 
fixed  his  eyes  in  the  direction  in  which  he  meant  to  make 
his  attack,  slowly  passed  his  hand  between  the  bars  of  his 
cage,  and  then  extending  his  long  arm,  gave  a  sudden  grip 
— usually  at  the  face."  He  never  tried  to  bite  (though 
Orangs  will  bite  one  another),  his  great  weapons  of  offence 
and  defence  being  his  hands. 

His  intelligence  was  very  great ;  and  Miiller  remarks, 
that,  though  the  faculties  of  the  Orang  have  been  esti- 
mated too  highly,  yet  Cuvier,  had  he  seen  this  specimen, 
would  not  have  considered  its  intelligence  to  be  only  a  lit- 
tle higher  than  that  of  a  dog. 

His  hearing  was  very  acute,  but  the  sense  of  vision 
seemed  to  be  less  perfect.  The  under  lip  was  the  great 
organ  of  touch,  and  played  a  very  important  part  in  drink- 
ing, being  thrust  out  like  a  trough,  so  as  either  to  catch 
the  falling  rain,  or  to  receive  the  contents  of  the  half 
cocoa-nut  shell  full  of  water  with  which  the  Orang  was 
supplied,  and  which,  in  drinking,  he  poured  into  the 
trough  thus  formed. 

In  Borneo  the  Orang-Utan  of  the  Malays  goes  by  the 
name  of  "Mias "  among  the  Dyaks,  who  distinguish  sev- 
eral kinds  as  Mias  Pappan,  or  Zimo,  Mias  JTassu,  and 
Mias  Ratiibi.  Whether  these  are  distinct  species,  how- 


THE  MAN-LIKE  APES.  53 


them  are  identical  with  the  Sumatran  Orang,  as  Mr.  Wal- 
lace thinks  the  Mias  Pappan  to  be,  are  problems  which 
are  at  present  undecided  ;  and  the  variability  of  these 
great  apes  is  so  extensive,  that  the  settlement  of  the  ques- 
tion is  a  matter  of  great  difficulty.  Of  the  form  called 
"  Mias  Pappan,"  Mr.  Wallace*  observes,  "  It  is  known 
by  its  large  size,  and  by  the  lateral  expansion  of  the  face 
into  fatty  protuberances  or  ridges,  over  the  temporal  mus- 
cles, which  have  been  mis-termed  callosities,  as  they  are 
perfectly  soft,  smooth,  and  flexible.  Five  of  this  form, 
measured  by  me,  varied  only  from  4  feet  1  inch  to  4  feet 
2  inches  in  height,  from  the  heel  to  the  crown  of  the  head, 
the  girth  of  the  body  from  3  feet  to  3  feet  7£  inches,  and 
the  extent  of  the  outstretched  arms  from  7  feet  2  inches  to 
7  feet  6  inches ;  the  width  of  the  face  from  10  to  13  \ 
inches.  The  colour  and  length  of  the  hair  varied  in  differ- 
ent individuals,  and  in  different  parts  of  the  same  individ- 
ual ;  some  possessed  a  rudimentary  nail  on  the  great  toe, 
others  none  at  all ;  but  they  otherwise  present  no  external 
differences  on  which  to  establish  even  varieties  of  a 
species. 

Yet,  when  we  examine  the  crania  of  these  individuals, 
we  find  remarkable  differences  of  form,  proportion,  and 
dimension,  no  two  being  exactly  alike.  The  slope  of  the 
profile,  and  the  projection  of  the  muzzle,  together  with 
the  size  of  the  cranium,  offer  differences  as  decided  as 
those  existing  between  the  most  strongly  marked  forms  of 
the  Caucasian  and  African  crania  in  the  human  species. 
The  orbits  vary  in  width  and  height,  the  cranial  ridge  is 
either  single  or  double,  either  much  or  little  developed, 
and  the  zygomatic  aperture  varies  considerably  in  size. 

*  On  the  Orang-Utan,  or  Mias  of  Borneo,  AnnalB  of  Natural   History, 
1856. 


54  THE   NATUKAJ,   HISTORY   OF 

This  variation  in  the  proportions  of  the  crania  enables  us 
satisfactorily  to  explain  the  marked  difference  presented 
by  the  single-crested  and  double-crested  skulls,  which 
have  been  thought  to  prove  the  existence  of  two  large 
species  of  Orang.  •  The  external  surface  of  the  skull  varies 
considerably  in  size,  as  do  also  the  zygomatic  aperture  and 
the  temporal  muscle  ;  but  they  bear  no  necessary  relation 
to  each  other,  a  small  muscle  often  existing  with  a  large 
cranial  surface,  and  vice  versa.  Now,  those  skulls  which 
have  the  largest  and  strongest  jaws  and  the  widest  zygo- 
matic aperture,  have  the  muscles  so  large  that  they  meet 
on  the  crown  of  the  skull,  and  deposit  the  bony  ridge 
which  separates  them,  and  which  is  the  highest  in  that 
which  has  the  smallest  cranial  surface.  In  those  which 
combine  a  large  surface  with  comparatively  weak  jaws, 
and  small  zygomatic  aperture,  the  muscles,  on  each  side, 
do  not  extend  to  the  crown,  a  space  of  from  1  to  2  inches 
remaining  between  them,  and  along  their  margins  small 
ridges  are  formed.  Intermediate  forms  are  found,  in 
which  the  ridges  meet  only  in  the  hinder  part  of  the  skull. 
The  form  and  size  of  the  ridges  are  therefore  independent 
of  age,  being  sometimes  more  strongly  developed  in  the 
less  aged  animal.  Professor  Temminck  states  that  the 
series  of  skulls  in  the  Leyden  Museum  shows  the  same 
result." 

Mr.  Wallace  observed  two  male  adult  Orangs  (Mias 
Kassu  of  the  Dyaks),  however,  so  very  different  from  any 
of  these  that  he  concludes  them  to  be  specially  distinct ; 
they  were  respectively  3  feet  8£  in.  and  3  feet  9£  inches 
high,  and  possessed  no  sign  of  the  cheek  excrescences,  but 
otherwise  resembled  the  larger  kinds.  The  skull  has  no 
crest,  but  two  bony  ridges,  If  inches  to  2  inches  apart,  as 
in  the  Simla  morio  of  Professor  Owen.  The  teeth,  how- 
ever, are  immense,  equalling  or  surpassing  those  of  the 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  55 

other  species.  The  females  of  both  these  kinds,  according 
to  Mr.  Wallace,  are  devoid  of  excrescences,  and  resemble 
the  smaller  males,  but  are  shorter  by  1^  to  3  inches,  and 
their  canine  teeth  are  comparatively  small,  subtruncated 
and  dilated  at  the  base,  as  in  the  so-called  Simia  morio, 
which  is,  in  all  probability,  the  skull  of  a  female  of  the 
same  species  as  the  smaller  males.  Both  males  and  fe- 
males of  this  smaller  species  are  distinguishable,  according 
to  Mr.  Wallace,  by  the  comparatively  large  size  of  the 
middle  incisors  of  the  upper  jaw. 

So  far  as  I  am  aware,  no  one  has  attempted  to  dispute 
the  accuracy  of  the  statements  which  I  have  just  quoted 
regarding  the  habits  of  the  two  Asiatic  man-like  Apes ; 
and  if  true,  they  must  be  admitted  as  evidence,  that  such 
an  Ape — 

Istly,  May  readily  move  along  the  ground  in  the  erect, 
or  semi-erect,  position,  and  without  direct  support  from 
its  arms. 

2ndly,  That  it  may  possess  an  extremely  loud  voice,  so 
loud  as  to  be  readily  heard  one  or  two  miles. 

3rdly,  That  it  may  be  capable  of  great  viciousness  and 
violence  when  irritated :  and  this  is  especially  true  of 
adult  males. 

4thly,  That  it  may  build  a  nest  to  sleep  in. 

Such  being  well-established  facts  respecting  the  Asiatic 
Anthropoids,  analogy  alone  might  justify  us  in  expecting 
the  African  species  to  offer  similar  peculiarities,  separately 
or  combined  ;  or,  at  any  rate,  would  destroy  the  force  of 
any  attempted  a  priori  argument  against  such  direct  testi- 
mony as  might  be  adduced  in  favour  of  their  existence. 
And,  if  the  organization  of  any  of  the  African  Apes  could 
be  demonstrated  to  fit  it  better  than  either  of  its  Asiatic 
allies  for  the  erect  position  and  for  efficient  attack,  there 


56  THE   NATURAL   HISTOEY   OF 

would  be  still  less  reason  for  doubting  its  occasional  adop- 
tion of  the  upright  attitude  or  of  aggressive  proceedings. 

From  the  time  of  Tyson  and  Tulpius  downwards,  the 
habits  of  the  young  CHIMPANZEE  in  a  state  of  captivity 
have  been  abundantly  reported  and  commented  upon. 
But  trustworthy  evidence  as  to  the  manners  and  customs 
of  adult  anthropoids  of  this  species,  in  their  native  woods, 
was  almost  wanting  up  to  the  time  of  the  publication  of 
the  paper  by  Dr.  Savage,  to  which  I  have  already  refer- 
red ;  containing  notes  of  the  observations  which  he  made, 
and  of  the  information  which  he  collected  from  sources 
which  he  considered  trustworthy,  while  resident  at  Cape 
Palmas,  at  the  northwestern  limit  of  the  Bight  of  Benin. 

The  adult  Chimpanzees,  measured  by  Dr.  Savage, 
never  exceeded,  though  the  males  may  almost  attain,  five 
feet  in  height. 

"  When  at  rest,  the  sitting  posture  is  that  generally 
assumed.  They  are  sometimes  seen  standing  and  walk- 
ing, but  when  thus  detected,  they  immediately  take  to  all 
fours,  and  flee  from  the  presence  of  the  observer.  Such  is 
their  organization  that  they  cannot  stand  erect,  but  lean 
forward.  Hence  they  are  seen,  when  standing,  with  the 
hands  clasped  over  the  occiput,  or  the  lumbar  region, 
which  would  seem  necessary  to  balance  or  ease  of  posture. 

"  The  toes  of  the  adult  are  strongly  flexed  and  turned 
inwards,  and  cannot  be  perfectly  straightened.  In  the 
attempt  the  skin  gathers  into  thick  folds  on  the  back, 
shewing  that  the  full  expansion  of  the  foot,  as  is  necessary 
in  walking,  is  unnatural.  The  natural  position  is  on  all 
fours,  the  body  anteriorly  resting  upon  the  knuckles. 
These  are  greatly  enlarged,  with  the  skin  protuberant  and 
thickened  like  the  sole  of  the  foot. 

"  They  are  expert  climbers,  as  one  would  suppose  from 
their  organization.  In  their  gambols  •  they  swing  from 


THE   MAX-LIKE   APES.  57 

limb  to  limb  at  a  great  distance,  and  leap  with  astonishing 
agility.  It  is  not  unusual  to  see  the  '  old  folks '  (in  the 
language  of  an  observer)  sitting  under  a  tree,  regaling 
themselves  with  fruit  and  friendly  chat,  while  their  '  chil- 
dren '  are  leaping  around  them,  and  swinging  from  tree  to 
tree  with  boisterous  merriment. 

"  As  seen  here,  they  cannot  be  called  gregarious,  sel- 
dom more  than  five,  or  ten  at  most,  being  found  together. 
It  has  been  said,  on  good  authority,  that  they  occasionally 
assemble  in  large  numbers,  in  gambols.  My  informant 
asserts  that  he  saw  once  not  less  than  fifty  so  engaged  ; 
hooting,  screaming,  and  drumming  with  sticks  upon  old 
logs,  which  is  done  in  the  latter  case  wTith  equal  facility 
by  the  four  extremities.  They  do  not  appear  ever  to  act 
on  the  offensive,  and  seldom,  if  ever  really,  on  the  defen- 
sive. When  about  to  be  captured,  they  resist  by  throw- 
ing their  arms  about  their  opponent,  and  attempting  to 
draw  him  into  contact  with  their  teeth."  (Savage,  1.  c.  p. 
381.) 

With  respect  to  this  last  point  Dr.  Savage  is  very  ex- 
plicit in  another  place : 

"  Siting  is  their  principal  art  of  defence.  I  have  seen 
one  man  who  had  been  thus  severely  wounded  in  the  feet. 

"  The  strong  development  of  the  canine  teeth  in  the 
adult  would  seem  to  indicate  a  carnivorous  propensity ; 
but  in  no  state  save  that  of  domestication  do  they  mani- 
fest it.  At  first  they  reject  flesh,  but  easily  acquire  a 
fondness  for  it.  The  canines  are  early  developed,  .and 
evidently  designed  to  act  the  important  part  of  weapons 
of  defence.  When  in  contact  with  man  almost  the  first 
effort  of  the  animal  is — fo  lite. 

"  They  avoid  the  abodes  of  men,  and  build  their  hab- 
itations in  trees.  Their  construction  is  more  that  of  nests 
than  huts,  as  they  have  been  erroneously  termed  by  some 


58  THE   NATUEAL   HISTORY   OF 

naturalists.  They  generally  build  not  far  above  the  ground. 
Branches  or  twigs  are  bent,  or  partly  broken,  and  crossed, 
and  the  whole  supported  by  the  body  of  a  limb  or  a  crotch. 
Sometimes  a  nest  will  be  found  near  the  end  of  a  strong 
leafy  Branch  twenty  or  thirty  feet  from  the  ground.  One 
I  have  lately  seen  that  could  not  be  less  than  forty  feet, 
and  more  probably  it  was  fifty.  But  this  is  an  unusual 
height. 

"  Their  dwelling-place  is  not  permanent,  but  changed 
in  pursuit  of  food  and  solitude,  according  to  the  force  of 
circumstances.  We  more  often  see  them  in  elevated 
places ;  but  this  arises  from  the  fact  that  the  low  grounds, 
being  more  favourable  for  the  natives'  rice-farms,  are  the 
oftener  cleared,  and  hence  are  almost  always  wanting  in 
suitable  trees  for  their  nests.  .  .  .  It  is  seldom  that 
more  than  one  or  two  nests  are  seen  upon  the  same  tree, 
or  in  the  same  neighbourhood  :  five  have  been  found,  but 
it  was  an  unusual  circumstance." 

"  Thfey  are  very  filthy  in  their  habits It 

is  a  tradition  with  the  natives  generally  here,  that  they 
were  once  members  of  their  own  tribe  :  that  for  their  de- 
praved habits  they  were  expelled  from  all  human  society, 
and  that  through  an  obstinate  indulgence  of  their  vile  pro- 
pensities, they  have  degenerated  into  their  present  state 
of  organization.  They  are,  however,  eaten  by  them,  and 
when  cooked  with  the  oil  and  pulp  of  the  palm-nut  con- 
sidered a  highly  palatable  morsel. 

"  They  exhibit  a  remarkable  degree  of  intelligence  in 
their  habits,  and,  on  the  part  of  the  mother,  much  affec- 
tion for  their  young.  The  second  female  described  was 
upon  a  tree  when  first  discovered,  with  her  mate  and  two 
young  ones  (a  male  and  a  female).  Her  first  impulse  was 
to  descend  with  great  rapidity,  and  make  off  into  the 
thicket,  with  her  mate  and  female  offspring.  The  young 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  59 

male  remaining  behind,  she  soon  returned  to  the  rescue. 
She  ascended  and  took  him  in  her  arms,  at  which  moment 
she  was  shot,  the  ball  passing  through  the  fore-arm  of  the 
young  one,  on  its  way  to  the  heart  of  the  mother.  .... 

"  In  a  recent  case,  the  mother,  when  discovered,  re- 
mained upon  the  tree  with  her  offspring,  watching  intently 
the  movements  of  the  hunter.  As  he  took  aim,  she  mo- 
tioned with  her  hand,  precisely  in  the  manner  of  a  human 
being,  to  have  him  desist  and  go  away.  "When  the  wound 
has  not  proved  instantly  fatal,  they  have  been  known  to 
stop  the  flow  of  blood  by  pressing  with  the  hand  upon  the 
part,  and  when  they  did  not  succeed,  to  apply  leaves  and 

grass "When  shot,  they  give  a  sudden  screech, 

not  unlike  that  of  a  human  being  in  sudden  and  acuto 
distress." 

"  The  ordinary  voice  of  the  Chimpanzee,  however,  is 
affirmed  to  be  hoarse,  guttural,  and  not  very  loud,  some- 
what like  '  whoo-whoo.'  "  (1.  c.  p.  365.) 

The  analogy  of  the  Chimpanzee  to  the  Orang,  in  its 
nest-building  habit  and  in  the  mode  of  forming  its  nest,  is 
exceedingly  interesting  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  ac- 
tivity of  this  ape,  and  its  tendency  to  bite,  are  particulars 
in  which  it  rather  resembles  the  Gibbons.  In  extent  of 
geographical  range,  again,  the  Chimpanzees — which  are 
found  from  Sierra  Leone  to  Congo — remind  one  of  the 
Gibbons,  rather  than  of  either  of  the  other  man-like  apes  ; 
and  it  seems  not  unlikely  that,  as  is  the  case  with  the  Gib- 
bons, there  may  be  several  species  spread  over  the  geograph- 
ical area  of  the  genus. 

The  same  excellent  observer,  from  whom  I  have  bor- 
rowed the  preceding  account  of  the  habits  of  the  adult 
Chimpanzee,  published,  fifteen  years  ago,*  an  account  of 

*  Notice  of  the  external  characters  and  habits  of  Troglodytes  Gorilla.  Bos- 
ton Journal  of  Natural  History,  1847. 


60 


THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 


the  GORILLA,  which  has,  in  its  most  essential  points,  been 
confirmed  by  subsequent  observers,  and  to  which  so  very 
little  has  really  been  added,  that  in  justice  to  Dr.  Savage 
I  give  it  almost  in  full. 


FIG.  10  —The  Gorilla,  after  Wolf. 


THE   MAN  LIKE   APES.  61 

"  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  my  account  is  based 
upon  the  statements  of  the  aborigines  of  that  region  (the 
Gaboon).  In  this  connection,  it  may  also  be  proper  for 
me  to  remark,  that  having  been  a  missionary  resident  for 
several  years,  studying,  from  habitual  intercourse,  the  Af- 
rican mind  and  character,  I  felt  myself  prepared  to  dis- 
criminate and  decide  upon  the  probability  of  their  state- 
ments. Besides,  being  familiar  with  the  history  and  habits 
of  its  interesting  congener  (Trog.  niger,  Geoif.),  I  was  able 
to  separate  their  accounts  of  the  two  animals,  which,  hav- 
ing the  same  locality  and  a  similarity  of  habit,  are  con- 
founded in  the  minds  of  the  mass,  especially  as  but  few — 
such  as  traders  to  the  interior  and  huntsmen — have  ever 
seen  the  animal  in  question. 

The  tribe  from  which  our  knowledge  of  the  animal  is 
derived,  and  whose  territory  forms  its  habitat,  is  the 
Mpongwe,  occupying  both  banks  of  the  River  Gaboon, 
from  its  mouth  to  some  fifty  or  sixty  miles  upward.  .  .  . 

If  the  word  "  Pongo  "  be  of  African  origin,  it  is  prob- 
ably a  corruption  of  the  word  Mpongwe,  the  name  of  the 
tribe  on  the  banks  of  the  Gaboon,  and  hence  applied  to 
the  region  they  inhabit.  Their  local  name  for  the  Chim- 
panzee is  Enche-eko,  as  near  as  it  can  be  Anglicized,  from 
which  the  common  term  "  Jocko  "  probably  comes.  The 
Mpongwe  appellation  for  its  new  congener  is  Enge-ena, 
prolonging  the  sound  of  the  first  vowel,  and  slightly 
sounding  the  second. 

The  habitat  of  the  Enge-ena  is  the  interior  of  lower 
Guinea,  whilst  that  of  the  Enche-eko  is  nearer  the  sea- 
board. 

Its  height  is  about  five  feet ;  it  is  disproportionately 
broad  across  the  shoulders,  thickly  covered  with  coarse 
black  hair,  which  is  said  to  be  similar  in  its  arrangement 
to  that  of  the  Enche-eko  •  with  age  it  becomes  gray,  which 


62  THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

fact  has  given  rise  to  the  report  that  both  animals  are  seen 
of  different  colours. 

Head. — The  prominent  features  of  the  head  are,  the 
great  width  and  elongation  of  the  face,  the  depth  of  the 
molar  region,  the  branches  of  the  lower  jaw  being  very 
deep  and  extending  far  backward,  and  the  comparative 
smallness  of  the  cranial  portion  ;  the  eyes  are  very  large, 
and  said  to  be  like  those  of  the  Enche-eko,  a  bright  hazel ; 
nose  broad  and  flat,  slightly  elevated  towards  the  root ; 
the  muzzle  broad,  and  prominent  lips  and  chin,  with  scat- 
tered gray  hairs  ;  the  under  lip  highly  mobile,  and  capable 
of  great  elongation  when  the  animal  is  enraged,  then 
hanging  over  the  chin  ;  skin  of  the  face  and  ears  naked, 
and  of  a  dark  brown,  approaching  to  black. 

The  most  remarkable  feature  of  the  head  is  a  high 
ridge,  or  crest  of  hair,  in  the  course  of  the  sagittal  suture, 
which  meets  posteriorly  with  a  transverse  ridge  of  the 
same,  but  less  prominent,  running  round  from  the  back  of 
one  ear  to  the  other.  The  animal  has  the  power  of  mov- 
ing the  scalp  freely  forward  and  back,  and  when  enraged 
is  said  to  contract  it  strongly  over  the  brow,  thus  bringing 
down  the  hairy  ridge  and  pointing  the  hair  forward,  so  as 
to  present  an  indescribably  ferocious  aspect. 

Neck  short,  thick,  and  hairy  ;  chest  and  shoulders  very 
broad,  said  to  be  fully  double  the  size  of  the  Enche-ekos  ; 
arms  very  long,  reaching  some  way  below  the  knee — the 
fore-arm  much  the  shortest ;  hands  very  large,  the  thumbs 
much  larger  than  the  fingers.  .  ...  . 

The  gait  is  shuffling ;  the  motion  of  the  body,  which 
is  never  upright  as  in  man,  but  bent  forward,  is  somewhat 
rolling,  or  from  side  to  side.  The  arms  being  longer  than 
the  Chimpanzee,  it  does  not  stoop  as  much  in  walking ; 
like  that  animal,  it  makes  progression  by  thrusting  its 
arms  forward,  resting  the  hands  on  the  ground,  and  then 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES. 


63 


giving  the  body  a  half  jumping  half  swinging  motion, 
between  them.  In  this  act  it  is  said  not  to  flex  the  fin- 
gers, as  does  the  Chim- 
panzee, resting  on  its 
knuckles,  but  to  extend 
them,  making  a  fulcrum 
of  the  hand.  When  it 
assumes  the  walking  pos- 
ture, to  which  it  is  said 
to  be  much  inclined,  it 
balances  its  huge  body 
by  flexing  its  arms  up- 

warfi  FIG-  !!• — Gorilla  walking  (after  Wolff.) 

They  live  in  bands,  but  are  not  so  numerous  as  the 
Chimpanzees  :  the  females  generally  exceed  the  other  sex 
in  number.  My  informants  all  agree  in  the  assertion  that 
but  one  adult  male  is  seen  in  a  band  ;  that  when  the 
young  males  grow  up,  a  contest  takes  place  for  mastery, 
and  the  strongest,  by  killing  and  driving  out  the  others, 
establishes  himself  as  the  head  of  the  community." 

Dr.  Savage  repudiates  the  stories  about  the  Gorillas 
carrying  off  women  and  vanquishing  elephants,  and  then 
adds — 

"  Their  dwellings,  if  they  may  be  so  called,  are  similar 
to  those  of  the  Chimpanzee,  consisting  simply  of  a  few 
sticks  and  leafy  branches,  supported  by  the  crotches  and 
limbs  of  trees :  they  afford  no  shelter,  and  are  occupied 
only  at  night. 

"  They  are  exceedingly  ferocious,  and  always  offensive 
in  their  habits,  never  running  from  man,  as  does  the  Chim- 
panzee. They  are  objects  of  terror  to  the  natives,  and  are 
never  encountered  by  them  except  on  the  defensive.  The 
few  that  have  been  captured  were  killed  by  elephant- 


64:  THE  NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

hunters  and  native  traders,  as  they  came  suddenly  upon 
them  while  passing  through  the  forests. 

"  It  is  said,  that  when  the  male  is  first  seen  he  gives  a 
terrific  yell,  that  resounds  far  and  wide  through  the  forest, 
something  like  kh — ah  !  kli — ah  !  prolonged  and  shrill. 
His  enormous  jaws  are  widely  opened  at  each  expiration, 
his  under  lip  hangs  over  the  chin,  and  the  hairy  ridge  and 
scalp  are  contracted  upon  the  brow,  presenting  an  aspect 
of  indescribable  ferocity. 

"  The  females  and  young,  at  the  first  cry,  quickly  dis- 
appear. He  then  approaches  the  enemy  in  great  fury, 
pouring  out  his  horrid  cries  in  quick  succession.  The 
hunter  awaits  his  approach  with  his  gun  extended  :  if  his 
aim  is  not  sure,  he  permits  the  animal  to  grasp  the  barrel, 
and  as  he  carries  it  to  his  mouth  (which  is  liis  habit)  he 
fires.  Should  the  gun  fail  to  go  off,  the  barrel  (that  of  the 
ordinary  musket,  which  is  thin)  is  crushed  between  his 
teeth,  and  the  encounter  soon  proves  fatal  to  the  hunter. 

"  In  the  wild  state,  their  habits  are  in  general  like 
those  of  the  Troglodytes  niger,  building  their  nests  loosely 
in  trees,  living  on  similar  fruits,  and  changing  their  place 
of  resort  from  force  of  circumstances." 

Dr.  Savage's  observations  were  confirmed  and  supple- 
mented by  those  of  Mr.  Ford,  who  communicated  an  in- 
teresting paper  on  the  Gorilla  to  the  Philadelphian  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences,  in  1852.  With  respect  to  the  geographi- 
cal distribution  of  this  greatest  of  all  the  man-like  Apes, 
Mr.  Ford  remarks : 

"  This  animal  inhabits  the  range  of  mountains  that 
traverse  the  interior  of  Guinea,  from  the  Cameroon  in  the 
north,  to  Angola  in  the  south,  and  about  100  miles  inland, 
and  called  by  the  geographers  Crystal  Mountains.  The 
limit  to  which  this  animal  extends,  either  north  or  south, 
I  am  unable  to  define.  But  that  limit  is  doubtless  some 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  65 

distance  north  of  this  river  [Gaboon].  I  was  able  to  cer- 
tify myself  of  this  fact  in  a  late  excursion  to  the  head- 
waters of  the  Mooney  (Danger)  River,  which  comes  into 
the  sea  some  sixty  miles  from  this  place.  I  was  informed 
(credibly,  I  think,)  that  they  were  numerous  among  the 
mountains  in  which  that  river  rises,  and  far  north  of  that. 

"  In  the  south,  this  species  extends  to  the  Congo  River, 
as  I  am  told  by  native  traders  who  have  visited  the  coast, 
between  the  Gaboon  and  that  river.  Beyond  that,  I  am 
not  informed.  This  animal  is  only  found  at  a  distance 
from  the  coast  in  most  cases,  and,  according  to  my  best 
information,  approaches  it  nowhere  so  nearly  as  on  the 
south  side  of  this  river,  where  they  have  been  found  within 
ten  miles  of  the  sea.  This,  however,  is  only  of  late  occur- 
rence. I  am  informed  by  some  of  the  oldest  Mpongwe 
men  that  formerly  he  was  only  found  on  the  sources  of  the 
river,  but  that  at  present  he  may  be  found  within  half-a- 
day's  walk  of  its  mouth.  Formerly  he  inhabited  the 
mountainous  ridge  where  Bushmen  alone  inhabited,  but 
now  he  boldly  approaches  the  Mpongwe  plantations. 
This  is  doubtless  the  reason  of  the  scarcity  of  information 
in  years  past,  as  the  opportunities  for  receiving  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  animal  have  not  been  wanting  ;  traders  having 
for  one  hundred  years  frequented  this  river,  and  speci- 
mens, such  as  have  been  brought  here  within  a  year,  could 
not  have  been  exhibited  without  having  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  most  stupid." 

One  specimen  Mr.  Ford  examined  weighed  1701bs., 
without  the  thoracic,  or  pelvic,  viscera,  and  measured  four 
feet  four  inches  round  the  chest.  This  writer  describes  so 
minutely  and  graphically  the  onslaught  of  the  Gorilla — 
though  he  does  not  for  a  moment  pretend  to  have  wit- 
nessed the  scene — that  I  am  tempted  to  give  this  part  of 
his  paper  in  full,  for  comparison  with  other  narratives :  ( 


66  THE   NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

"  He  always  rises  to  his  feet  when  making  an  attack, 
though  he  approaches  his  antagonist  in  a  stooping  posture. 

"  Though  he  never  lies  in  wait,  yet,  when  he  hears, 
sees  or  scents  a  man,  he  immediately  utters  his  character- 
istic cry,  prepares  for  an  attack,  and  always  acts  on  the 
offensive.  The  cry  he  utters  resembles  a  grunt  more  than 
a  growl,  and  is  similar  to  the  cry  of  the  Chimpanzee,  when 
irritated,  but  vastly  louder.  It  is  said  to  be  audible  at  a 
great  distance.  His  preparation  consists  in  attending  the 
females  and  young  ones,  by  whom  he  is  usually  accompa- 
nied, to  a  little  distance.  He,  however,  soon  returns,  with 
his  crest  erect  and  projecting  forward,  his  nostrils  dilated, 
and  his  under-lip  thrown  down  ;  at  the  same  time  uttering 
his  characteristic  yell,  designed,  it  would  seem,  to  terrify 
his  antagonist.  Instantly,  unless  he  is  disabled  by  a  well- 
directed  shot,  he  makes  an  onset,  and,  striking  his  antago- 
nist with  the  palm  of  his  hands,  or  seizing  him  with  a 
grasp  from  which  there  is  no  escape,  he  dashes  him  upon 
the  ground,  and  lacerates  him  with  his  tusks. 

"  He  is  said  to  seize  a  musket,  and  instantly  crush  the 

barrel  between  his  teeth This  animal's 

savage  nature  is  very  well  shewn  by  the  implacable  des- 
peration of  a  young  one  that  was  brought  here.  It  was 
taken  very  young,  and  kept  four  months,  and  many  means 
were  used  to  tame  it ;  but  it  was  incorrigible,  so  that  it 
bit  me  an  hour  before  it  died.1' 

Mr.  Ford  discredits  the  house-building  and  elephant- 
driving  stories,  and  says  that  no  well-informed  natives 
believe  them.  They  are  tales  told  to  children. 

I  might  quote  other  testimony  to  a  similar  effect,  but, 
as  it  appears  to  me,  less  carefully  weighed  and  sifted,  from 
the  letters  of  MM.  Franquet  and  Gautier  Laboullay,  ap- 
pended to  the  memoir  of-M.  I.  G.  St.  Hilaire,  which  I 
have  already  cited. 


THE   MAN-LIKE   APES.  67 

Bearing  in  mind  what  is  known  regarding  the  Orang 
and  the  Gibbon,  the  statements  of  Dr.  Savage  and  Mr. 
Ford  do  not  appear  to  me  to  be  justly  open  to  criticism 
on  a  priori  grounds.  The  Gibbons,  as  we  have  seen, 
readily  assume  the  erect  posture,  but  the  Gorilla  is  far 
better  fitted  by  its  organization  for  that  attitude  than  are 
the  Gibbons  :  if  the  laryngeal  pouches  of  the  Gibbons,  as 
is  very  likely,  are  important  in  giving  volume  to  a  voice 
which  can  be  heard  for  half  a  league,  the  Gorilla,  which 
has  similar  sacs,  more  largely  developed,  and  whose  bulk 
is  fivefold  that  of  a  Gibbon,  may  well  be  audible  for  twice 
that  distance.  If  the  Orang  fights  with  its  hands,  the 
Gibbons  and  Chimpanzees  with  their  teeth,  the  Gorilla 
may,  probably  enough,  do  either  or  both  ;  nor  is  there 
anything  to  be  said  against  either  Chimpanzee  or  Gorilla 
building  a  nest,  when  it  is  proved  that  the  Orang-Utan 
habitually  performs  that  feat. 

With  all  this  evidence,  now  ten  to  fifteen  years  old, 
before  the  world,  it  is  not  a  little  surprising  that  the  asser- 
tions of  a  recent  traveller,  who,  so  far  as  the  Gorilla  is 
concerned,  really  does  very  little  more  than  repeat,  on  his 
own  authority,  the  statements  of  Savage  and  Ford,  should 
have  met  with  so  much  and  such  bitter  opposition.  If 
subtraction  be  made  of  what  was  known  before,  the  sum 
and  substance  of  what  M.  Du  Chaillu  has  affirmed  as  a 
matter  of  his  own  observation  respecting  the  Gorilla,  is, 
that,  on  advancing  to  the  attack,  the  great  brute  beats  his 
chest  with  his  fists.  I  confess  I  see  nothing  very  improba- 
ble, or  very  much  worth  disputing  about,  in  this  state- 
ment. 

With  respect  to  the  other  man-like  Apes  of  Africa,  M. 
Du  Chaillu  tells  us  absolutely  nothing,  of  his  own  knowl- 
edge, regarding  the  common  Chimpanzee  ;  but  he  informs 
us  of  a  bald-headed  species  or  variety,  the  nschieyo 


68  THE  NATURAL   HISTORY   OF 

mbouve,  which  builds  itself  a  shelter,  and  of  another  rare 
kind  with  a  comparatively  small  face,  large  facial  angle, 
and  peculiar  note,  resembling  "  Kooloo." 

As  the  Orang  shelters  itself  with  a  rough  coverlet  of 
leaves,  and  the  common  Chimpanzee,  according  to  that 
eminently  trustworthy  observer  Dr.  Savage,  makes  a  sound 
like  "  Whoo-whoo," — the  grounds  of  the  summary  repudi- 
ation with  which  M.  Du  Chaillu's  statements  on  these 
matters  have  been  met  is  not  obvious. 

If  I  have  abstained  from  quoting  M.  Du  Chaillu's 
work,  then,  it  is  not  because  I  discern  any  inherent  im- 
probability in  his  assertions  respecting  the  man-like 
Apes ;  nor  from  any  wish  to  throw  suspicion  on  his  ve- 
racity ;  but  because,  in  my  opinion,  so  long  as  his  narra- 
tive remains  in  its  present  state  of  unexplained  and  appa- 
rently inexplicable  confusion,  it  has  no  claim  to  original 
authority  respecting  any  subject  whatsoever. 

It  may  be  truth,  but  it  is  not  evidence. 


AFRICAN    CANNIBALISM    IN   THE    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY.       69 


AFRICAN   CANNIBALISM  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 


In  turning  over  Pigafetta's  version  of  the  narrative  of  Lopez, 

which  I  have  quoted 
above,  I  came  upon  so 
curious  and  unexpected 
an  anticipation,  by  some 
two  centuries  and  a 
half,  of  one  of  the  most 
startling  parts  of  M.  Du 
Chaillu's  narrative,  that 
I  cannot  refrain  from 
drawing  attention  to  it 
in  a  note,  although  I 
must  confess  that  the 
subject  is  not  strictly 
relevant  to  the  matter 
in  hand. 

In  the  fifth  chapter 
of  the  first  book  of  the 
"  Descriptio,  "  Concern- 
ing the  northern  part 
of  the  Kingdom  of  Con- 
go and  its  boundaries, 
is  mentioned  a  people 
whose  king  is  called 
4  Maniloango,'  and  who 
live  under  the  equator, 
and  as  far  westward  as 
Cape  Lopez.  This  ap- 
pears to  be  the  country 
now  inhabited  by  the 
Ogobai  and  Bakalai  ac- 
cording to  M.  Du  Chail- 

FIG.  12.— Butcher's  Shop  of  the  Anziqucs,  Anno  1598.      lu.  —  "  Beyond        these 

dwell    another    people 

called  '  Anziques,'  of  incredible  ferocity,  for  they  eat  one  another, 
eparing  neither  friends  nor  relations." 


70      AFRICAN   CANNIBALISM   IN    THE    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY. 

These  people  are  armed  \vith  small  bows  bound  tightly  round 
with  snake  skins,  and  strung  with  a  reed  or  rush.  Their  arrows, 
short  and  slender,  but  made  of  hard  wood,  are  shot  with  great  ra- 
pidity. They  have  iron  axes,  the  handles  of  which  are  bound  with 
snake  skins,  and  swords  with  scabbards  of  the  same  material ;  for 
defensive  armour  they  employ  elephant  hides.  They  cut  their  skins 
when  young,  so  as  to  produce  scars.  "  Their  butchers'  shops  are 
filled  with  human  flesh  instead  of  that  of  oxen  or  sheep.  For  they 
eat  the  enemies  whom  they  take  in  battle.  They  fatten,  slay,  and 
devour  their  slaves  also,  unless  they  think  they  shall  get  a  good 
price  for  them ;  and,  moreover,  sometimes  for  weariness  of  life  or 
desire  for  glory  (for  they  think  it  a  great  thing  and  the  sign  of  a 
generous  soul  to  despise  life),  or  for  love  of  their  rulers,  ofler  them- 
selves up  for  food." 

"  There  are  indeed  many  cannibals,  as  in  the  Eastern  Indies  and 
in  Brazil  and  elsewhere,  but  none  such  as  these,  since  the  others  only 
eat  their  enemies,  but  these  their  own  blood  relations." 

The  careful  illustrators  of  Pigafetta  have  done  their  best  to  enable 
the  reader  to  realize  this  account  of  the  '  Anziques,'  and  the  unexam- 
pled butcher's  shop  represented  in  fig.  12,  is  a  facsimile  of  part  of 
their  Plate  XII. 

M.  Du  Chaillu's  account  of  the  Fans  accords  most  singularly  with 
what  Lopez  here  narrates  of  the  Anziques.  He  speaks  of  their  small 
crossbows  and  little  arrows,  of  their  axes  and  knives,  "  ingeniously 
sheathed  in  snake  skins."  "  They  tattoo  themselves  more  than  any 
other  tribes  I  have  met  with  north  of  the  equator."  And  all  the 
world  knows  what  M.  Du  Chaillu  says  of  their  cannibalism—"  Pres- 
ently we  passed  a  woman  who  solved  all  doubt.  She  bore  with  her 
a  piece  of  the  thigh  of  a  human  body,  just  as  we  should  go  to  mar- 
ket and  carry  thence  a  roast  or  steak."  M.  Du  Chaillu's  artist  can- 
not generally  be  accused  of  any  want  of  courage  in  embodying  the 
statements  of  his  author,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that,  with  so  good 
an  excuse,  he  has  not  furnished  us  with  a  fitting  companion  to  the 
sketch  of  the  brothers  De  Bry. 


II. 


ON   THE  KELATIONS  OF  MAN  TO  THE 
LOWEK  ANIMALS. 


Multis  videri  poterit,  majorem  esse  differentiam  Simiae  et  Hominis,  quam  die! 
et  noctis ;  verum  tamen  hi,  comparatione  instituta  inter  summos  Europse 
Heroes  et  Hottentottos  ad  Caput  bonae  spei  degentes,  difficillime  sibi  per- 
suadebunt,  has  eosdem  habere  natales ;  vel  si  virginem  nobilem  aulicam, 
maxime  contam  et  humanissimam,  conferre  vellent  cum  homine  sylvestri  et 
sibi  relicto,  vix  augurari  possent,  hunc  ct  illam  ejusdem  esse  speciei. — Lin- 
nasi  Amoenitates  Acad.  "Anthropomorpha." 

THE  question  of  questions  for  mankind — the  problem 
winch  underlies  all  others,  and  is  more  deeply  interesting 
than  any  other — is  the  ascertainment  of  the  place  which 
Man  occupies  in  nature  and  of  his  relations  to  the  uni- 
verse of  things.  Whence  our  race  has  come ;  what  are 
the  limits  of  our  power  over  nature,  and  of  nature's  power 
over  us  ;  to  what  goal  we  are  tending  ;  are  the  problems 
which  present  themselves  anew  and  with  undiminished 
interest  to  every  man  born  into  the  world.  Most  of  us, 
shrinking  from  the  difficulties  and  dangers  which  beset  the 
seeker  after  original  answers  to  these  riddles,  are  contented 
to  ignore  them  altogether,  or  to  smother  the  investigating 
spirit  under  the  featherbed  of  respected  and  respectable 
tradition.  But,  in  every  age,  one  or  two  restless  spirits, 
blessed  with  that  constructive  genius,  which  can  only  build 


72  THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

on  a  secure  foundation,  or  cursed  with  the  mere  spirit  of 
scepticism,  are  unable  to  follow  in  the  well-worn  and  com- 
fortable track  of  their  forefathers  and  contemporaries,  and 
unmindful  of  thorns  and  stumbling-blocks,  strike  out  into 
paths  of  their  own.  The  sceptics  end  in  the  infidelity 
which  asserts  the  problem  to  be  insoluble,  or  in  the  athe- 
ism which  denies  the  existence  of  any  orderly  progress  and 
governance  of  things :  the  men  of  genius  propound  solu- 
tions which  grow  into  systems  of  Theology  or  of  Philoso- 
phy, or  veiled  in  musical  language  which  suggests  more 
than  it  asserts,  take  the  shape  of  the  Poetry  of  an  epoch. 

Each  such  answer  to  the  great  question,  invariably 
asserted  by  the  follpwers  of  its  propound er,  if  not  by  him- 
self, to  be  complete  and  final,  remains  in  high  authority 
and  esteem,  it  may  be  for  one  century,  or  it  may  be  for 
twenty :  but,  as  invariably,  Time  proves  each  reply  to 
have  been  a  mere  approximation  to  the  truth — tolerable 
chiefly  on  account  of  the  ignorance  of  those  by  whom  it 
was  accepted,  and  wholly  intolerable  when  tested  by  the 
larger  knowledge  of  their  successors. 

In  a  well-worn  metaphor,  a  parallel  is  drawn  between 
the  life  of  man  and  the  metamorphosis  of  the  caterpillar 
into  the  butterfly  ;  but  the  comparison  may  be  more  just 
as  well  as  more  novel,  if  for  its  former  term  we  take  the 
mental  progress  of  the  race.  History  shows  that  the 
human  mind,  fed  by  constant  accessions  of  knowledge, 
periodically  grows  too  large  for  its  theoretical  coverings, 
and  bursts  them  asunder  to  appear  in  new  habiliments,  as 
the  feeding  and  growing  grub,  at  intervals,  casts  its  too 
narrow  skin  and  assumes  another,  itself  but  temporary. 
Truly  the  imago  state  of  Man  seems  to  be  terribly  distant, 
but  every  moult  is  a  step  gained,  and  of  such  there  have 
been  many. 

Since  the  revival  of  learning,  whereby  the  "Western 


TO   THE   LOWEE   ANIMALS.  73 

races  of  Europe  were  enabled  to  enter  upon  that  progress 
towards  true  knowledge,  which  was  commenced  by  the 
philosophers  of  Greece,  but  was  almost  arrested  in  subse- 
quent long  ages  of  intellectual  stagnation,  or,  at  most, 
gyration,  the  human  larva  has  been  feeding  vigorously, 
and  moulting  in  proportion.  A  skin  of  some  dimension 
was  cast  in  the  16th  century,  and  another  towards  the  end 
of  the  18th,  while,  within  the  last  fifty  years,  the  extraor- 
dinary growth  of  every  department  of  physical  science  has 
spread  among  us  mental  food  of  so  nutritious  and  stimu- 
lating a  character  that  a  new  ecdysis  seems  imminent. 
But  this  is  a  process  not  unusually  accompanied  by  many 
throes  and  some  sickness  and  debility,  or,  it  may  be,  by 
graver  disturbances  ;  so  that  every  good  citizen  must  feel 
bound  to  facilitate  the  process,  and  even  if  he  have  noth- 
ing but  a  scalpel  to  work  withal,  to  ease  the  cracking  in- 
tegument to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

In  this  duty  lies  my  excuse  for  the  publication  of  these 
essays.  For  it  will  be  admitted  that  some  knowledge  of 
man's  position  in  the  animate  world  is  an  indispensable 
preliminary  to  the  proper  understanding  of  his  relations 
to  the  universe — and  this  again  resolves  itself,  in  the  long 
run,  into  an  inquiry  into  the  nature  and  the  closeness  of 
the  ties  which  connect  him  with  those  singular  creatures 
whose  history*  has  been  sketched  in  the  preceding  pages. 

The  importance  of  such  an  inquiry  is  indeed  intuitively 
manifest.  Brought  face  to  face  with  these  blurred  copies 
of  himself,  the  least  thoughtful  of  men  is  conscious  of  a 
certain  shock,  due,  perhaps,  not  so  much  to  disgust  at  the 
aspect  of  what  looks  like  an  insulting  caricature,  as  to  the 
awakening  of  a  sudden  and  profound  mistrust  of  time- 

*  It  will  be  understood  that,  in  the  preceding  Essay,  I  have  selected  for 
notice  from  the  vast  mass  of  papers  which  have  been  written  upon  the  man- 
like Apes,  only  those  which  seem  to  me  to  be  of  special  moment. 
4 


74:  TIIE   KLLATIONS    OF   MAN 

honoured  theories  and  strongly-rooted  prejudices  regard- 
ing his  own  position  in  nature,  and  his  relations  to  the 
under-world  of  life  ;  while  that  which  remains  a  dim  sus- 
picion for  the  unthinking,  becomes  a  vast  argument, 
fraught  with  the  deepest  consequences,  for  all  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  recent  progress  of  the  anatomical  and 
physiological  sciences. 

I  now  propose  briefly  to  unfold  that  argument,  and  to 
set  forth,  in  a  form  intelligible  to  those  who  possess  no 
special  acquaintance  with  anatomical  science,  the  chief 
facts  upon  which  all  conclusions  respecting  the  nature  and 
the  extent  of  the  bonds  which  connect  man  with  the  brute 
world  must  be  based  :  I  shall  then  indicate  the  one  imme- 
diate conclusion  which,  in  my  judgment,  is  justified  by 
those  facts,  and  I  shall  finally  discuss  the  bearing  of  that 
conclusion  upon  the  hypotheses  which  have  been  enter- 
tained respecting  the  Origin  of  Man.  / 

The  facts  to  which  I  would  first  direct  the  reader's 
attention,  though  ignored  by  many  of  the  professed  in- 
structors of  the  public  mind,  are  easy  of  demonstration 
and  are  universally  agreed  to  by  men  of  science ;  while 
their  significance  is  so  great,  that  whoso  has  duly  pon- 
dered over  them  will,  I  think,  find  little  to  startle  him  in 
the  other  revelations  of  Biology.  I  refer  to  those  facts 
which  have  been  made  known  by  the  study  of  Develop- 
ment. 

It  is  a  truth  of  very  wide,  if  not  of  universal,  applica- 
tion, that  every  living  creature  commences  its  existence 
under  a  form  different  from,  and  simpler  than,  that  which 
it  eventually  attains. 

The  oak  is  a  more  complex  thing  than  the  little  rudi- 
mentary plant  contained  in  the  acorn  ;  the  caterpillar  is 
more  complex  than  the  egg ;  the  butterfly  than  the  cater- 


TO   THE    LOWEB   ANIMALS.  75 

pillar  ;  and  each  of  these  beings,  in  passing  from  its  rudi- 
mentary to  its  perfect  condition,  runs  through  a  series  of 
changes,  the  sum  of  which  is  called  its  Development.  In 
the  higher  animals  these  changes  are  extremely  compli- 
cated ;  but,  within  the  last  half  century,  the  labours  of 
such  men  as  Yon  Baer,  Rathke,  Reichert,  Bischof,  and 
Remak,  have  almost  completely  unravelled  them,  so  that 
the  successive  stages  of  development  which  are  exhibited 
by  a  Dog,  for  example,  are  now  as  well  known  to  the  em- 
bryologist  as  are  the  steps  of  the  metamorphosis  of  the 
silk-worm  moth  to  the  school-boy.  It  will  be  useful  to 
consider  with  attention  the  nature  and  the  order  of  the 
stages  of  canine  development,  as  an  example  of  the  process 
in  the  higher  animals  generally. 

The  Dog,  like  all  animals,  save  the  very  lowest  (and 
further  inquiries  may  not  improbably  remove  the  apparent 
exception),  commences  its  existence  as  an  egg  :  as  a  body 
which  is,  in  every  sense,  as  much  an  egg  as  that  of  a  hen, 
but  is  devoid  of  that  accumulation  of  nutritive  matter 
which  confers  upon  the  bird's  egg  its  exceptional  size  and 
domestic  utility ;  and  wants  the  shell,  which  would  not 
only  be  useless  to  an  animal  incubated  within  the  body  of 
its  parent,  but  would  cut  it  off  from  access  to  the  source 
of  that  nutriment  which  the  young  creature  requires,  but 
which  the  minute  egg  of  the  mammal  docs  not  contain 
within  itself. 

The  Dog's  egg  is,  in  fact,  a  little  spheroidal  bag  (Fig. 
13),  formed  of  a  delicate  transparent  membrane  called  the 
mtelline  membrane,  and  about  7|^  to  ToVth  of  an  inch  in 
diameter.  It  contains  a  mass  of  viscid  nutritive  matter — 
the  '  yelk ' — within  which  is  inclosed  a  second  much  more 
delicate  spheroidal  bag,  called  the  'germinal  vesicle"*  (a). 
In  this,  lastly,  lies  a  more  solid  rounded  body,  termed  the 
'  germinal  spot '  (5). 


THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 


The  egg,  or  '  Ovum,'  is  originally  formed  within  a 
gland,  from  "which,  in  due  season,  it  becomes  detached, 


FIG.  13. — A.  Egg  of  the  Dog,  with  the  vitclline  membrane  burst,  so  as  to 
give  exit  to  the  yelk,  the  germinal  vesicle  (a),  and  its  included 
spot  (6). 

B.  C.  D.  E.  F.    Successive   changes  of  the  yelk  indicated  in  the 
text.    After  Bischoff. 

and  passes  into  the  living  chamber  fitted  for  its  protection 
and  maintenance  during  the  protracted  process  of  gesta- 
tion. Here,  when  subjected  to  the  required  conditions, 
this  minute  and  apparently  insignificant  particle  of  living 
matter,  becomes  animated  by  a  new  and  mysterious  ac- 
tivity. The  germinal  vesicle  and  spot  cease  to  be  dis- 
cernible (their  precise  fate  being  one  of  the  yet  unsolved 
problems  of  embryology),  but  the  yelk  becomes  circumfer- 
entially  indented,  as  if  an  invisible  knife  had  been  drawn 
round  it,  and  thus  appears  divided  into  two  hemispheres 
(Fig.  13,  C). 

By  the  repetition  of  this  process  in  various  planes, 


TO   THE   LOWEfl   ANIMALS.  77 

these  hemispheres  become  subdivided,  so  that  four  seg- 
ments are  produced  (D) ;  and  these,  in  like  manner,  divide 
and  subdivide  again,  until  the  whole  yelk  is  converted 
into  a  mass  of  granules,  each  of  which  consists  of  a  minute 
spheroid  of  yelk-substance,  inclosing  a  central  particle,  the 
so-called  '  nucleus '  (F).  Mature,  by  this  process,  has  at- 
tained much  the  same  result  as  that  at  which  a  human 
artificer  arrives  by  his  operations  in  a  brick  field.  She 
takes  the  rough  plastic  material  of  the  yelk  and  breaks  it 
up  into  well-shaped  tolerably  even-sized  masses — handy 
for  building  up  into  any  part  of  the  living  edifice. 

^Next,  the  mass  of  organic  bricks,  or  '  cells '  as  they  are 
technically  called,  thus  formed,  acquires  an  orderly  ar- 
rangement, becoming  converted  into  a  hollow  spheroid 
with  double  walls.  Then,  upon  one  side  of  this  spheroid, 
appears  a  thickening,  and,  by  and  bye,  in  the  centre  of 
the  area  of  thickening,  a  straight  shallow  groove  (Fig.  14, 
A)  marks  the  central  line  of  the  edifice  which  is  to  be 
raised,  or,  in  other  words,  indicates  the  position  of  the 
middle  line  of  the  body  of  the  future  dog.  The  substance 
bounding  the  groove  on  each  side  next  rises  up  into  a  fold, 
the  rudiment  of  the  side  wall  of  that  long  cavity,  which 
will  eventually  lodge  the  spinal  marrow  and  the  brain ; 
and  in  the  floor  of  this  chamber  appears  a  solid  cellular 
cord,  the  so-called  *  notochord.'>  One  end  of  the  inclosed 
cavity  dilates  to  form  the  head  (Fig.  14,  B),  the  other  re- 
mains narrow,  and  eventually  becomes  the  tail ;  the  side 
Avails  of  the  body  are  fashioned  out  of  the  downward  con- 
tinuation of  the  walls  of  the  groove  ;  and  from  them,  by 
and  bye,  grow  out  little  buds  which,  by  degrees,  assume 
the  shape  of  limbs.  Watching  the  fashioning  process  stage 
by  stage,  one  is  forcibly  reminded  of  the  modeller  in  clay. 
Every  part,  every  organ,  is  at  first,  as  it  were,  pinched  up 
rudely,  and  sketched  out  in  the  rough  ;  then  shaped  more 


78 


THE   RELATIONS   OF  MAN 


accurately,  and  only,  at  last,  receives  the  touches  which 
stamp  its  final  character. 

Thus,  at  length,  the  young  puppy  assumes  such  a  form 
as  is  shewn  in  Fig.  14,  0.     In  this  condition  it  has  a  dis- 


FIG.  14. — A.  Earliest  rudiment  of  the  Dog.  B.  Rudiment  further  advanced, 
showing  the  foundations  of  the  head,  tail,  and  vertebral  col- 
umn. C.  The  very  young  puppy,  with  attached  ends  of  the 
yelk-sac  and  allantois,  and  invested  in  the  amnion. 

proportionately  large  head,  as  dissimilar  to  that  of  a  dog 
as  the  bud-like  limbs  are  unlike  his  legs. 

The  remains  of  the  yelk,  which  have  not  yet  been  ap- 
plied to  the  nutrition  and  growth  of  the  young  animal, 
are  contained  in  a  sac  attached  to  the  rudimentary  intes- 
tine, and  termed  the  yelk  sac,  or  *  umbilical  vesicle?  Two 
membranous  bags,  intended  to  subserve  respectively  the 
protection  and  nutrition  of  the  young  creature,  have  been 
developed  from  the  skin  and  from  the  under  and  hinder 
surface  of  the  body ;  the  former,  the  so-called  '  amnion?  is 
a  sac  filled  with  fluid,  which  invests  the  whole  body  of  the 


TO   THE   LOWER    ANIMALS.  79 

embryo,  and  plays  the  part  of  a  sort  of  water-bed  for  it ; 
the  other,  termed  the  '  allantoisj  grows  out,  loaded  with 
blood-vessels,  from  the  ventral  region,  and  eventually  ap- 
plying itself  to  the  walls  of  the  cavity,  in  which  the  devel- 
oping organism  is  contained,  enables  these  vessels  to  be- 
come the  channel  by  which  the  stream  of  nutriment, 
required  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  offspring,  is  furnished 
to  it  by  the  parent. 

The  structure  which  is  developed  by  the  interlacement 
of  the  vessels  of  the  offspring  with  those  of  the  parent,  and 
by  means  of  which  the  former  is  enabled  to  receive  nour- 
ishment and  to  get  rid  of  effete  matters,  is  termed  the 
'  Placenta? 

It  would  be  tedious,  and  it  is  unnecessary  for  my  pres- 
ent purpose,  to  trace  the  process  of  development  further  ; 
suffice  it  to  say,  that,  by  a  long  and  gradual  series  of 
changes,  the  rudiment  here  depicted  and  described,  be- 
comes a  puppy,  is  born,  and  then,  by  still  slower  and  less 
perceptible  steps,  passes  into  the  adult  Dog. 

There  is  not  much  apparent  resemblance  between  a 
barn-door  Fowl  and  the  Dog  who  protects  the  farm-yard. 
Nevertheless  the  student  of  development  finds,  not  only 
that  the  chick  commences  its  existence  as  an  egg,  primarily 
identical,  in  all  essential  respects,  with  that  of  the  Dog, 
but  that  the  yelk  of  this  egg  undergoes  division — that  the 
primitive  groove  arises,  and  that  the  contiguous  parts  of 
the  germ  are  fashioned,  by  precisely  similar  methods,  into 
a  young  chick,  which,  at  one  stage  of  its  existence,  is  so 
like  the  nascent  Dog,  that  ordinary  inspection  would 
hardly  distinguish  the  two. 

The  history  of  the  development  of  any  other  vertebrate 
animal,  Lizard,  Snake,  Frog,  or  Fish,  tells  the  same  story. 
There  is  always,  to  begin  with,  an  egg  having  the  same 


80  THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

essential  structure  as  that  of  the  Dog : — the  yelk  of  that 
egg  always  undergoes  division,  or  '  segmentation '  as  it  is 
often  called :  the  ultimate  products  of  that  segmentation 
constitute  the  building  materials  for  the  body  of  the  young 
animal ;  and  this  is  built  up  round  a  primitive  groove,  in 
the  floor  of  which  a  notochord  is  developed.  Further- 
more^there  is  a  period  in  which  the  young  of  all  these 
animals  resemble  one  another,  not  merely  in  outward 
form,  but  in  all  essentials  of  structure,  so  closely,  that  the 
differences  between,  them  are  inconsiderable,  while,  in 
their  subsequent  course,  they  diverge  more  and  more 
widely  from  one  another.  And  it  is  a  general  law,  that, 
the  more  closely  any  animals  resemble  one  another  in 
adult  structure,  the  longer  and  the  more  intimately  do  their 
embryos  resemble  one  another:,  so  that,  for  example,  the 
embryos  of  a  Snake  and  of  a  Lizard  remain  like  one  an- 
other longer  than  do  those  of  a  Snake  and  of  a  Bird  ;  and 
the  embryo  of  a  Dog  and  of  a  Cat  remain  like  one  another 
for  a  far  longer  period  than  do  those  of  a  Dog  and  a  Bird  ; 
or  of  a  Dog  and  an  Opossum  ;  or  even  than  those  of  a 
Dog  and  a  Monkey. 

Thus  the  study  of  development  affords  a  clear  test  of 
closeness  of  structural  affinity,  and  one  turns  with  impa- 
tience to  inquire  what  results  are  yielded  by  the  study  of 
the  development  of  Man.  Is  he  something  apart  ?  Does 
he  originate  in  a  totally  different  way  from  Dog,  Bird, 
Frog,  and  Fish,  thus  justifying  those  who  assert  him  to 
have  no  place  in  nature  and  no  real  affinity  with  the 
lower  world  of  animal  life  ?  Or  does  he  originate  in  a 
similar  germ,  pass  through  the  same  slow  and  gradually 
progressive  modifications, — depend  on  the  same  contri- 
vances for  protection  and  nutrition,  and  finally  enter  the 
world  by  the  help  of  the  same  mechanism  ?  The  reply  is 
not  doubtful  for  a  moment,  and  has  not  been  doubtful  any 


TO   THE    LOWER    ANIMALS.  81 

time  these  thirty  years.  "Without  question,  the  mode  of 
origin  and  the  early  stages  of  the  development  of  man  are 
identical  with  those  of  the  animals  immediately  below  him 
in  the  scale  : — without  a  doubt,  in  these  respects,  he  is  far 
nearer  the  Apes,  than  the  Apes  are  to  the  Dog. 

The  Human  ovum  is  about  T|T  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
and  might  be  described  in  the  same  terms  as  that  of  the 
Dog,  so  that  I  need  only  refer  to  the  figure  illustrative 
(15  A.)  of  its  structure.  It  leaves  the  organ  in  which  it  is 
formed  in  a  similar  fashion  and  enters  the  organic  cham- 
ber prepared  for  its  reception  in  the  same  way,  the  condi- 
tions of  its  development  being  in  all  respects  the  same. 
It  has  not  yet  been  possible  (and  only  by  some  rare  chance 
can  it  ever  be  possible)  to  study  the  human  ovum  in  so 
early  a  developmental  stage  as  that  of  yelk  division,  but 
there  is  every  reason  to  conclude  that  the  changes  it  un- 
dergoes are  identical  with  those  exhibited  by  the  ova  of 
other  vertebrated  animals  ;  for  the  formative  materials  of 
which  the  rudimentary  human  body  is  composed,  in  the 
earliest  conditions  in  which  it  has  been  observed,  are  the 
same  as  those  of  other  animals.  Some  of  these  earliest 
stages  are  figured  below  and,  as  will  be  seen,  they  are 
strictly  comparable  to  the  very  early  states  of  the  Dog ; 
the  marvellous  correspondence  between  the  two  which  is 
kept  up,  even  for  some  time,  as  development  advances, 
becoming  apparent  by  the  simple  comparison  of  the  fig- 
ures with  those  on  page  63. 

Indeed,  it  is  very  long  before  the  body  of  the  young 
human  being  can  be  readily  discriminated  from  that  of 
the  young  puppy ;  but,  at  a  tolerably  early  period,  the 
two  become  distinguishable  by  the  different  form  of  their 
adjuncts,  the  yelk-sac  and  the  allantois.  The  former,  in 
the  Dog,  becomes  long  and  spindle-shaped,  while  in  Man 
it  remains  spherical :  the  latter,  in  the  Dog,  attains  an  ex- 
4* 


82 


THE   KELATIONS    OF   MAN 


tremely  large  size,  and  the  vascular  processes  which  are 
developed  from  it  and  eventually  give  rise  to  the  forma- 
tion of  the  placenta  (taking  root,  as  it  were,  in  the  parental 


FIG.  15. — A.  Unman  ovum  (after  Kolliker).     a.  germinal  vesicle,     b.  ger- 
minal spot. 

B.  A  very  early  condition  of  Man,  with  yelk-sac,  allantois  and  am- 

nion  (original). 

C.  A  more  advanced  stage  (after  Kolliker),  compare  fig.  14,  C. 

organism,  so  as  to  draw  nourishment  therefrom,  as  the  root 
of  a  tree  extracts  it  from  the  soil)  are  arranged  in  an  en- 
circling zone,  while  in  Man,  the  allantois  remains  compar- 
atively small,  and  its  vascular  rootlets  are  eventually  re- 
stricted to  one  disk-like  spot.  Hence,  while  the  placenta 
of  the  Dog  is  like  a  girdle,  that  of  Man  has  the  cake-like 
form,  indicated  by  the  name  of  the  organ. 

But,  exactly  in  those  respects  in  which  the  developing 
Man  differs  from  the  Dog,  he  resembles  the  Ape,  which, 
like  man,  has  a  spheroidal  yelk-sac  and  a  discoidal — some- 
times partially  lobed-placenta. 

So  that  it  is  only  quite  in  the  later  stages  of  develop- 
ment that  the  young  human  being  presents  marked  differ- 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  83 

ences  from  the  young  ape,  while  the  latter  departs  as, 
much  from  the  dog  in  its  development  as  the  man  does. 

Startling  as  the  last  assertion  may  appear  to  be,  it  is 
demonstrably  true,  and  it  alone  appears  to  me  sufficient  to 
place  beyond  all  doubt  the  structural  unity  of  man  with 
the  rest  of  the  animal  world,  and  more  particularly  and 
closely  with  the  apes. 

Thus,  identical  in  the  physical  processes  by  which  he 
originates — identical  in  the  early  stages  of  his  formation — 
identical  in  the  mode  of  his  nutrition  before  and  after 
birth,  with  the  animals  which  lie  immediately  below  him 
in  the  scale — Man,  if  his  adult  and  perfect  structure  be 
compared  with  theirs,  exhibits,  as  might  be  expected,  a 
marvellous  likeness  of  organization.  He  resembles  them 
as  they  resemble  one  another — he  differs  from  them  as 
they  differ  from  one  another. — And,  though  these  differ- 
ences and  resemblances  cannot  be  weighed  and  measured, 
their  value  may  be  readily  estimated  ;  the  scale  pr  stan- 
dard of  judgment,  touching  that  value,  being  afforded  and 
expressed  by  the  system  of  classification  of  animals  now 
current  among  zoologists. 

A  careful  study  of  the  resemblances  and  differences 
presented  by  animals  has,  in  fact,  led  naturalists  to  ar- 
range them  into  groups,  or  assemblages,  all  the  members 
of  each  group  presenting  a  certain  amount  of  definable 
resemblance,  and  the  number  of  points  of  similarity  being 
smaller  as  the  group  is  larger  and  vice  versa.  Thus,  all 
creatures  which  agree  only  in  presenting  the  few  distinct- 
ive marks  of  animality  form  the  '  Kingdom '  ANIMALIA. 
The  numerous  animals  which  agree  only  in  possessing  the 
special  characters  of  Vertebrates  form  one  '  Sub-kingdom ' 
of  this  Kingdom.  Then  the  Sub-kingdom  YERTEBRATA  is 
subdivided  into  the  five  '  Classes,'  Fishes,  Amphibians, 


84:  THE   RELATIONS    OF   MAN 

Reptiles,  Birds,  and  Mammals,  and  these  into  smaller 
groups  called  '  Orders  ; '  these  into  '  Families '  and  '  Gen- 
era ;'  while  the  last  are  finally  broken  np  into  the  smallest 
assemblages,  which  are  distinguished  by  the  possession  of 
constant,  not-sexual,  characters.  These  ultimate  groups 
are  Species. 

Every  year  tends  to  bring  about  a  greater  uniformity 
of  opinion  throughout  the  zoological  world  as  to  the  limits 
and  characters  of  these  groups,  great  and  small.  At  pres- 
ent, for  example,  no  one  has  the  least  doubt  regarding  the 
characters  of  the  classes  Mammalia,  Aves,  or  Reptilia ; 
nor  does  the  question  arise  whether  any  thoroughly  well- 
known  animal  should  be  placed  in  one  class  or  the  other. 
Again,  there  is  a  very  general  agreement  respecting  the 
characters  and  limits  of  the  orders  of  Mammals,  and  as  to 
the  animals  which  are  structurally  necessitated  to  take  a 
place  in  one  or  another  order. 

No  one  doubts,  for  example,  that  the  Sloth  and  the 
Ant-eater,  the  Kangaroo  and  the  Opossum,  the  Tiger  and 
the  Badger,  the  Tapir  and  the  Rhinoceros,  are  respect- 
ively members  of  the  same  orders.  These  successive  pairs 
of  animals  may,  and  some  do,  differ  from  one  another  im- 
mensely, in  such  matters  as  the  proportions  and  structure 
of  their  limbs ;  the  number  of  their  dorsal  and  lumbar 
vertebrae  ;  the  adaptation  of  their  frames  to  climbing, 
leaping,  or  running  ;  the  number  and  form  of  their  teeth  ; 
and  the  characters  of  their  skulls  and  of  the  contained 
brain.  But,  with  all  these  differences,  they  are  so  closely 
connected  in  all  the  more  important  and  fundamental 
characters  of  their  organization,  and  so  distinctly  sepa- 
rated by  these  same  characters  from  other  animals,  that 
zoologists  find  it  necessary  to  group  them  together  as 
members  of  one  order.  And  if  any  new  animal  were  dis- 
covered, and  were  found  to  present  no  greater  difference 


TO   TUE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  85 

from  the  Kangaroo  and  the  Opossum,  for  example,  than 
these  animals  do  from  one  another,  the  zoologist  would 
not  only  be  logically  compelled  to  rank  it  in  the  same 
order  with  these,  but  he  would  not  think  of  doing  other- 
wise. 

Bearing  this  obvious  course  of  zoological  reasoning  in 
mind,  let  us  endeavour  for  a  moment  to  disconnect  our 
thinking  selves  from  the  mask  of  humanity  ;  let  us  ima- 
gine ourselves  scientific  Saturnians,  if  you  will,  fairly  ac- 
quainted with  such  animals  as  now  inhabit  the  Earth,  and 
employed  in  discussing  the  relations  they  bear  to  a  new 
and  singular  '  erect  and  featherless  biped,'  which  some 
enterprising  traveller,  overcoming  the  difficulties  of  space 
and  gravitation,  has  brought  from  that  distant  planet  for 
our  inspection,  well  preserved,  may  be,  in  a  cask  of  rum. 
We  should  all,  at  once,  agree  upon  placing  him  among  the 
mammalian  vertebrates ;  and  his  lower  jaw,  his  molars, 
and  his  brain,  would  leave  no  room  for  doubting  the  sys- 
tematic position  of  the  new  genus  among  those  mammals, 
whose  young  are  nourished  during  gestation  by  means  of 
a  placenta,  or  what  are  called  the  '  placental  mammals.' 

Further,  the  most  superficial  study  would  at  once  con- 
vince us  that,  among  the  orders  of  placental  mammals, 
neither  the  Whales  nor  the  hoofed  creatures,  nor  the 
Sloths  and  Ant-eaters,  nor  the  carnivorous  Cats,  Dogs,  and 
Bears,  still  less  the  Rodent  Rats  and  Rabbits,  or  the  In- 
sectivorous Moles  and  Hedgehogs,  or  the  Bats,  could  claim 
our  'Homo '  as  one  of  themselves. 

There  would  remain  then,  but  one  order  for  compari- 
son, that  of  the  Apes  (using  that  word  in  its  broadest 
sense),  and  the  question  for  discussion  would  narrow  itself 
to  this — is  Man  so  different  from  any  of  these  Apes  that 
he  must  form  an  order  by  himself?  Or  does  lie  differ 


86  THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

less  from  them  than  they  differ  from  one  another,  and 
hence  must  take  his  place  in  the  same  order  with  them  ? 

Being  happily  free  from  all  real,  or  imaginary,  per- 
sonal interest  in  the  results  of  the  inquiry  thus  set  afoot, 
we  should  proceed  to  weigh  the  arguments  on  one  side  and 
on  the  other,  with  as  much  judicial  calmness  as  if  the 
question  related  to  a  new  Opossum.  We  should  endea- 
vour to  ascertain,  without  seeking  either  to  magnify  or 
diminish  them,  all  the  characters  by  which  our  new  Mam- 
mal differed  from  the  Apes ;  and  if  we  found  that  these 
were  of  less  structural  value,  than  those  which  distinguish 
certain  members  of  the  Ape  order  from  others  universally 
admitted  to  be  of  the  same  order,  we  should  undoubtedly 
place  the  newly  discovered  tellurian  genus  with  them. 

I  now  proceed  to  detail  the  facts  which  seem  to  me  to 
leave  us  no  choice  but  to  adopt  the  last  mentioned  course. 

It  is  quite  certain  that  the  Ape  which  most  nearly  ap- 
proaches man,  in  the  totality  of  its  organization,  is  either 
the  Chimpanzee  or  the  Gorilla  ;  and  as  it  makes  no  prac- 
tical difference,  for  the  purposes  of  my  present  argument, 
which  is  selected  for  comparison,  on  the  one  hand,  with 
Man,  and  on  the  other  hand,  with  the  rest  of  the  Pri- 
mates,* I  shall  select  the  latter  (so  far  as  its  organization 
is  known) — as  a  brute  now  so  celebrated  in  prose  and 
verse,  that  all  must  have  heard  of  him,  and  have  formed 
some  conception  of  his  appearance.  I  shall  take  up  as 
many  of  the  most  important  points  of  difference  between 
man  and  this  remarkable  creature,  as  the  space  at  my  dis- 
posal will  allow  me  to  discuss,  and  the  necessities  of  the 
argument  demand  ;  and  I  shall  inquire  into  the  value  and 

*  We  are  not  at  present  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  brain  of  the  Go 
rilla,  and  therefore,  in  discussing  cerebral  characters,  I  shall  take  that  of  th« 
Chimpanzee  as  my  highest  term  among  the  Apes. 


TO  THE   LOWER  ANIMALS.  87 

magnitude  of  these  differences,  when  placed  side  by  side 
with  those  which  separate  the  Gorilla  from  other  animals 
of  the  same  order. 

In  the  general  proportions  of  the  body  and  limbs  there 
is  a  remarkable  difference  between  the  Gorilla  and  Man, 
which  at  once  strikes  the  eye.  The  Gorilla's  brain-case  is 
smaller,  its  trunk  larger,  its  lower  limbs  shorter,  its  upper 
limbs  longer  in  proportion  than  those  of  Man. 

I  find  that  the  vertebral  column  of  a  full  grown  Gorilla, 
in  the  Museum  of  the  Koyal  College  of  Surgeons,  meas- 
ures 27  inches  along  its  anterior  curvature,  from  the  upper 
edge  of  the  atlas,  or  first  vertebra  of  the  neck,  to  the  lower 
extremity  of  the  sacrum  ;  that  the  arm,  without  the  hand, 
is  31£  inches  long ;  that  the  leg,  without  the  foot,  is  26^ 
inches  long ;  that  the  hand  is  9f  inches  long ;  the  foot 
11^  inches  long. 

In  other  words,  taking  the  length  of  the  spinal  column 
as  100,  the  arm  equals  115,  the  leg  96,  the  hand  36,  and 
the  foot  41. 

In  the  skeleton  of  a  male  Bosjesman,  in  the  same  col- 
lection, the  proportions,  by  the  same  measurement,  to  the 
spinal  column,  taken  as  100,  are — the  arm  78,  the  leg  110, 
the  hand  26,  and  the  foot  32.  In  a  woman  of  the  same 
race  the  arm  is  83,  and  the  leg  120,  the  hand  and  foot 
remaining  the  same.  In  a  European  skeleton  I  find  the 
arm  to  be  80,  the  leg  117,  the  hand  26,  the  foot  35. 

Thus  the  leg  is  not  so  different  as  it  looks  at  first  sight, 
in  its  proportions  to  the  spine  in  the  Gorilla  and  in  the 
Man — being  very  slightly  shorter  than  the  spine  in  the 
former,  and  between  TV  and  }  longer  than  the  spine  in 
the  latter.  The  foot  is  longer  and  the  hand  much  longer 
in  the  Gorilla ;  but  the  great  difference  is  caused  by  the 
arms,  which  are  very  much  longer  than  the  spine  in  the 
Gorilla,  very  much  shorter  than  the  spine  in  the  Man. 


88  THE  RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

The  question  now  arises  how  are  the  other  Apes  re- 
lated to  the  Gorilla  in  these  respects — taking  the  length 
of  the  spine,  measured  in  the  same  way,  at  100.  In  an 
adult  Chimpanzee,  the  arm  is  only  96,  the  leg  90,  the  hand 
43,  the  foot  39 — so  that  the  hand  and  the  leg  depart  more 
from  the  human  proportion  and  the  arm  less,  while  the 
foot  is  about  the  same  as  in  the  Gorilla. 

In  the  Orang,  the  arms  are  very  much  longer  than  in 
the  Gorilla  (122),  while  the  legs  are  shorter  (88) ;  the  foot 
ig  longer  than  the  hand  (52  and  48),  and  both  are  much 
longer  in  proportion  to  the  spine. 

In  the  other  man-like  Apes  again,  the  Gibbons,  these 
proportions  are  still  further  altered ;  the  length  of  the 
arms  being  to  that  of  the  spinal  column  as  19  to  11 ;  while 
the  legs  are  also  a  third  longer  than  the  spinal  column,  so 
as  to  be  longer  than  in  Man,  instead  of  shorter.  The 
hand  is  half  as  long  as  the  spinal  column,  and  the  foot, 
shorter  than  the  hand,  is  about  T5Tths  of  the  length  of  the 
spinal  column. 

Thus  Hylobates  is  as  much  longer  in  the  arms  than  the 
Gorilla,  as  the  Gorilla  is  longer  in  the  arms  than  Man  ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  as  much  longer  in  the  legs 
than  the  Man,  as  the  Man  is  longer  in  the  legs  than  the 
Gorilla,  so  that  it  contains  within  itself  the  extremest  de- 
viations from  the  average  length  of  both  pairs  of  limbs 
(see  the  Frontispiece). 

The  Mandrill  presents  a  middle  condition,  the  arms 
and  legs  being  nearly  equal  in  length,  and  both  being 
shorter  than  the  spinal  column ;  while  hand  and  foot 
have  nearly  the  same  proportions  to  one  another  and  to 
the  spine,  as  in  Man. 

In  the  Spider  monkey  (Ateles)  the  leg  is  longer  than 
the  spine,  and  the  arm  than  the  leg  ;  and,  finally,  in  that 
remarkable  Lemuriue  form,  the  Indri,  (Lichanotus)  the 


TO    TIIE    LOWEK   ANIMALS.  89 

leg  is  about  as  long  as  the  spinal  column,  while  the  arm  is 
not  more  than  }i  of  its  length;  the  hand  having  rather 
less  and  the  foot  rather  more,  than  one  third  the  length 
of  the  spinal  column. 

These  examples  might  be  greatly  multiplied,  but  they 
suffice  to  show  that,  in  whatever  proportion  of  its  limbs 
the  Gorilla  differs  from  Man,  the  other  Apes  depart  still 
more  widely  from  the  Gorilla  and  that,  consequently,  such 
differences  of  proportion  can  have  no  ordinal  value. 

We  may  next  consider  the  differences  presented  by  the 
trunk,  consisting  of  the  vertebral  column,  or  backbone, 
and  the  ribs  and  pelvis,  or  bony  hip-basin,  which  are  con- 
nected with  it,  in  Man  and  in  the  Gorilla  respectively. 

In  Man,  in  consequence  partly  of  the  disposition  of  the 
articular  surfaces  of  the  vertebrae,  and  largely  of  the  elas- 
tic tension  of  some  of  the  fibrous  bands,  or  ligaments, 
which  connect  these  vertebrae  together,  the  spinal  column, 
as  a  whole,  has  an  elegant  S-like  curvature,  being  convex 
forwards  in  the  neck,  concave  in  the  back,  convex  in  the 
loins,  or  lumbar  region,  and  concave  again  in  the  sacral 
region  ;  an  arrangement  which  gives  much  elasticity  to 
the  whole  backbone,  and  diminishes  the  jar  communicated 
to  the  spine,  and  through  it  to  the  head,  by  locomotion  in 
the  erect  position. 

Furthermore,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  Man  has 
seven  vertebras  in  his  neck,  which  are  called  cervical  / 
twelve  succeed  these,  bearing  ribs  and  forming  the  upper 
part  of  the  back,  whence  they  are  termed  dorsal  /  five  lie 
in  the  loins,  bearing  no  distinct,  or  free,  ribs,  and  are  called 
lumbar  •  five,  united  together  into  a  great  bone,  excavated 
in  front,  solidly  wedged  in  between  the  hip  bones,  to  form 
the  back  of  the  pelvis,  and  known  by  the  name  of  the  sa- 
crum, succeed  these  ;  and  finally,  tliree  or  four  little  more 


00  THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

or  less  moveable  bones,  so  small  as  to  be  insignificant, 
constitute  the  coccyx  or  rudimentary  tail. 

In  the  Gorilla,  the  vertebral  column  is  similarly  di- 
vided into  cervical,  dorsal,  lumbar,  sacral  and  coccygeal 
vertebras,  and  the  total  number  of  cervical  and  dorsal  ver- 
tebras, taken  together,  is  the  same  as  in  man ;  but  the 
development  of  a  pair  of  ribs  to  the  first  lumbar  vertebra, 
which  is  an  exceptional  occurrence  in  Man,  is  the  rule  in 
the  Gorilla  ;  and  hence,  as  lumbar  are  distinguished  from 
dorsal  vertebras  only  by  the  presence  or  absence  of  free 
ribs,  the  seventeen  "  dorso-lumbar  "  vertebrae  of  the  Go- 
rilla are  divided  into  thirteen  dorsal  and  four  lumbar, 
while  in  Man  they  are  twelve  dorsal  and  five  lumbar. 

Not  only,  however,  does  Man  occasionally  possess  thir- 
teen pair  of  ribs,*  but  the  Gorilla  sometimes  has  fourteen 
pairs,  while  an  Orang-Utan  skeleton  in  the  Museum  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons  has  twelve  dorsal  and  five  lum- 
bar vertebras,  as  in  Man.  Cuvier  notes  the  same  number 
in  a  Hylobates.  On  the  other  hand,  among  the  lower 
Apes,  many  possess  twelve  dorsal  and  six  or  seven  lumbar 
vertebras  ;  the  Douroucouli  has  fourteen  dorsal  and  eight 
lumbar,  and  a  Lemur  (Stenops  tardigradus)  has  fifteen 
dorsal  and  nine  lumbar  vertebras. 

The  vertebral  cchimn  of  the  Gorilla,  as  a  whole,  differs 
from  that  of  Man  in  the  less  marked  character  of  its 
curves,  especially  in  the  slighter  convexity  of  the  lumbar 
region.  Nevertheless,  the  curves  are  present,  and  are 
quite  obvious  in  young  skeletons  of  the  Gorilla  and  Chirn- 

*  "  More  than  once,"  says  Peter  Camper,  "  have  I  met  with  more  than  six 
lumbar  vertebrae  in  man.  .  .  .  Once  I  found  thirteen  ribs  and  four  lum- 
bar vertebrae."  Fallopius  noted  thirteen  pair  of  ribs  and  only  four  lumbar 
vertebrae ;  and  Eustachius  once  found  eleven  dorsal  vertebrae  and  six  lumbar 
vertebrae. — '  (Euvres  de  Pierre  Camper,'  T.  1,  p.  42.  As  Tyson  states,  his 
*  Pygmie '  had  thirteen  pair  of  ribs  and  five  lumbar  vertebrae.  The  question 
of  the  curves  of  the  spinal  column  in  the  Apes  requires  further  investigation. 


TO   THE   LOWEK   ANIMALS. 


91 


FIG.  16. — Front  and  side  views  of  the  bony  pelvis  of  Man,  the  Gorilla  and 
Gibbon :  reduced  from  drawings  made  from  nature,  of  the  same  absolute 
length,  by  Mr.  Waterhouse  Hawkins. 


92  THE   KELATIONS   OF   MAN 

panzee  which  have  been  prepared  without  removal  of  the 
ligaments.  In  young  Orangs  similarly  preserved,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  spinal  column  is  either  straight,  or  even 
concave  forwards,  throughout  the  lumbar  region. 

Whether  we  take  these  characters  then,  or  such  minor 
ones  as  those  which  are  derivable  from  the  proportional 
length  of  the  spines  in  the  cervical  vertebras,  and  the  like, 
there  is  no  doubt  whatsoever  as  to  the  marked  diiference 
between  Man  and  the  Gorilla ;  but  there  is  as  little,  that 
equally  marked  differences,  of  the  very  same  order,  obtain 
between  the  Gorilla  and  the  lower  apes. 

The  Pelvis,  or  bony  girdle  of  the  hips,  of  Man  is  a 
strikingly  human  part  of  his  organization  ;  the  expanded 
haunch  bones  affording  support  for  his  viscera  during  his 
habitually  erect  posture,  and  giving  space  for  the  attach- 
ment of  the  great  muscles  which  enable  him  to  assume 
and  to  preserve  that  attitude.  In  these  respects  the  pelvis 
of  the  Gorilla  differs  very  considerably  from  his  (Fig.  16). 
But  go  no  lower  than  the  Gibbon,  and  see  how  vastly 
more  he  differs  from  the  Gorilla  than  the  latter  does  from 
Man,  even  in  this  structure.  Look  at  the  flat,  narrow 
haunch  bones — the  long  and  narrow  passage — the  coarse, 
outwardly  curved,  ischiatic  prominences  on  which  the 
Gibbon  habitually  rests,  and  which  are  coated  by  the  so- 
called  "  callosities,"  dense  patches  of  skin,  wholly  absent 
in  the  Gorilla,  in  the  Chimpanzee,  and  in  the  Orang,  as 
in  Man  ! 

In  the  lower  Monkeys  and  in  the  Lemurs  the  differ- 
ence becomes  more  striking  still,  the  pelvis  acquiring  an 
altogether  quadrupedal  character. 

But  now  let  us  turn  to  a  nobler  and  more  characteris- 
tic organ — that  by  which  the  human  frame  seems  to  be, 
and  indeed  is,  so  strongly  distinguished  from  all  others, — • 
I  mean  the  skull.  The  differences  between  a  Gorilla's 


TO   THE   LOWEK   ANIMALS.  93 

skull  and  a  Man's  are  truly  immense  (Fig.  17).  In  the 
former,  the  face,  formed  largely  by  the  massive  jaw-bones, 
predominates  over  the  brain  case,  or  cranium  proper :  in 
the  latter,  the  proportions  of  the  two  are  reversed.  In 
the  Man,  the  occipital  foramen,  through  which  passes  the 
great  nervous  cord  connecting  the  brain  with  the  nerves 
of  the  body,  is  placed  just  behind  the  centre  of  the  base 
of  the  skull,  which  thus  becomes  evenly  balanced  in  the 
erect  posture  ;  in  the  Gorilla  it  lies  in  the  posterior  third 
of  that  base.  In  the  Man,  the  surface  of  the  skull  is  com- 
paratively smooth,  and  the  supraciliary  ridges  or  brow 
prominences  usually  project  but  little — while,  in  the  Go- 
rilla, vast  crests  are  developed  upon  the  skull,  and  the 
brow  ridges  overhang  the  cavernous  orbits,  like  great 
penthouses. 

Sections  of  the  skulls,  however,  show  that  some  of  the 
apparent  defects  of  the  Gorilla's  cranium  arise,  in  fact, 
not  so  much  from  deficiency  of  brain  case  as  from  exces- 
sive development  of  the  parts  of  the  face.  The  cranial 
cavity  is  not  ill-shaped,  and  the  forehead  is  not  truly  flat- 
tened or  very  retreating,  its  really  well-formed  curve  being 
simply  disguised  by  the  mass  of  bone  which  is  built  up 
against  it  (Fig.  17). 

But  the  roofs  of  the  orbits  rise  more  obliquely  into  the 
cranial  cavity,  thus  diminishing  the  space  for  the  lower 
part  of  the  anterior  lobes  of  the  brain,  and  the  absolute 
capacity  of  the  cranium  is  far  less  than  that  of  Man.  So 
far  as  I  am  aware,  no  human  cranium  belonging  to  an 
adult  man  has  yet  been  observed  with  a  less  cubical  ca- 
pacity than  62  cubic  inches,  the  smallest  cranium  observed 
in  any  race  of  men  by  Morton,  measuring  63  cubic  inches ; 
while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  most  capacious  Gorilla  skull 
yet  measured  has  a  content  of  not  more  than  34£  cubic 
inches.  Let  us  assume,  for  simplicity's  sake,  that  the  low- 


94:  THE  RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

est  Man's  skull  has  twice  the  capacity  of  the  highest  Go- 
rilla.* 

No  doubt,  this  is  a  very  striking  difference,  but  it  loses 
much  of  its  apparent  systematic  value,  when  viewed  by  the 
light  of  certain  other  equally  indubitable  facts  respecting 
cranial  capacities. 

The  first  of  these  is,  that  the  difference  in  the  volume 
of  the  cranial  cavity  of  different  races  of  mankind  is  far 
greater,  absolutely,  than  that  between  the  lowest  Man 
and  the  highest  Ape,  while,  relatively,  it  is  about  the 
same.  For  the  largest  human  skull  measured  by  Morton, 
contained  114  cubic  inches,  that  is  to  say,  had  very  nearly 
double  the  capacity  of  the  smallest ;  while  its  absolute 

*  It  has  been  affirmed  that  Hindoo  crania  sometimes  contain  as  little  as 
27  ounces  of  water,  which  would  give  a  capacity  of  about  46  cubic  inches. 
The  minimum  capacity  which  I  have  assumed  above,  however,  is  based  upon 
the  valuable  tables  published  by  Professor  R.  Wagner  in  his  "  Vrostudien  zu 
einer  wissenschaftlichen  Morphologic  und  Physiologie  des  menschliehen  Ge- 
hirns.'  As  the  result  of  the  careful  weighing  of  more  than  900  human 
brains,  Professor  Wagner  states  that  one-half  weighed  between  1200  and  1400 
grammes,  and  that  about  two-ninths,  consisting  for  the  most  part  of  male 
brains,  exceed  1400  grammes.  The  lightest  brain  of  an  adult  male,  with 
Bound  mental  faculties,  recorded  by  Wagner,  weighed  1020  grammes.  As  a 
gramme  equals  154  grains,  and  a  cubic  inch  of  water  contains  252.4  grains, 
this  is  equivalent  to  62  cubic  inches  of  water;  so  that  as  brain  is  heavier  than 
water,  we  are  perfectly  safe  against  erring  on  the  side  of  diminution  in  taking 
this  as  the  smallest  capacity  of  any  adult  male  human  brain.  The  only  adult 
male  brain,  weighing  as  little  as  970  grammes,  is  that  of  an  idiot ;  but  the 
brain  of  an  adult  woman,  against  the  soundness  of  whose  faculties  nothing  ap- 
pears, weighed  as  little  as  907  grammes  (55.3  cubic  inches  of  water) ;  and 
Reid  gives  an  adult  female  brain  of  still  smaller  capacity.  The  heaviest  brain 
(1872  grammes,  or  abont  115  cubic  inches)  was,  however,  that  of  a  woman; 
next  to  it  comes  the  brain  of  Cuvier  (1861  grammes),  then  Byron  (1807 
grammes),  and  then  an  insane  person  (1783  grammes).  The  lightest  adult 
brain  recorded  (720  grammes)  was  that  of  an  idiotic  female.  The  brains  oi 
five  children,  four  years  old,  weighed  between  1275  and  992  grammes.  So 
that  it  may  be  safely  said,  that  an  average  European  child  of  four  years  old 
has  a  brain  twice  as  large  as  that  of  an  adult  Gorilla. 


TO    THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  95 

preponderance,  of  52  cubic  inches — is  far  greater  than 
that  by  which  the  lowest  adult  male  human  cranium  sur- 
passes the  largest  of  the  Gorillas  (62  —  34~|  =  27i).  Sec- 
ondly, the  adult  crania  of  Gorillas  which  have  as  yet  been 
measured  differ  among  themselves  by  nearly  one-third,  the 
maximum  capacity  being  34.5  cubic  inches,  the  minimum 
24  cubic  inches  ;  and,  thirdly,  after  making  all  due  allow- 
ance for  difference  of  size,  the  cranial  capacities  of  some 
of  the  lower  apes  fall  nearly  as  much,  relatively,  below 
those  of  the  higher  Apes  as  the  latter  fall  below  Man. 

Thus,  even  in  the  important  matter  of  cranial  capacity, 
Men  differ  more  widely  from  one  another  than  they  do 
from  the  Apes  ;  while  the  lowest  Apes  differ  as  much,  in 
proportion,  from  the  highest,  as  the  latter  does  from  Man. 
The  last  proposition  is  still  better  illustrated  by  the  study 
of  the  modifications  which  other  parts  of  the  cranium  un- 
dergo in  the  Simian  series. 

It  is  the  large  proportional  size  of  the  facial  bones  and 
the  great  projection  of  the  jaws  which  confers  upon  the 
Gorilla's  skull  its  small  facial  angle  and  brutal  character. 

But  if  we  consider  the  proportional  size  of  the  facial 
bones  to  the  skull  proper  only,  the  little  Chrysothrix  (Fig. 
17)  differs  very  widely  from  the  Gorilla,  and  in  the  same 
way  as  Man  does  ;  while  the  Baboons  (Cynocephalus,  Fig. 
17)  exaggerate  the  gross  proportions  of  the  muzzle  of  the 
great  Anthropoid,  so  that  its  visage  looks  mild  and  human 
by  comparison  with  theirs.  The  difference  between  the 
Gorilla  and  the  Baboon  is  even  greater  than  it  appears  at 
first  sight ;  for  the  great  facial  mass  of  the  former  is 
largely  due  to  a  downward  development  of  the  jaws  ;  an 
essentially  human  character,  superadded  upon  that  almost 
purely  forward,  essentially  brutal,  development  of  the 
same  parts  which  characterizes  the  Baboon,  and  yet  more 
remarkably  distinguishes  the  Lemur. 


96 


THE   RELATIONS    OF   MAN 


£=3 

a>  >  u      S  ig 

«  «  *>        ES 

.     .      t.   o   ^ 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  97 

Similarly  the  occipital  foramen  of  Hycetea  (Fig.  17) 
and  still  more  of  the  Lemurs,  is  situated  completely  in  the 
posterior  face  of  the  skull,  or  as  much  further  back  than 
that  of  the  Gorilla,  as  that  of  the  Gorilla  is  further  back 
than  that  of  Man  ;  while,  as  if  to  render  patent  the  futility 
of  the  attempt  to  base  any  broad  classificatory  distinction 
on  such  a  character,  the  same  group  of  Platyrhine,  or 
American  monkeys,  to  which  the  Mycetes  belongs,  con- 
tains the  Chrysothrix,  whose  occipital  foramen  is  situated 
far  more  forward  than  in  any  other  ape,  and  nearly  ap- 
proaches the  position  it  holds  in  Man. 

Again,  the  Orang's  skull  is  as  devoid  of  excessively 
developed  supraciliary  prominences  as  a  Man's,  though 
some  varieties  exhibit  great  crests  elsewhere  (see  p.  54) ; 
and  in  some  of  the  Cebine  apes  and  in  the  Chrysothrix, 
the  cranium  is  as  smooth  and  rounded  as  that  of  Man 
himself. 

"What  is  true  of  these  leading  characteristics  of  the 
skull,  holds  good,  as  may  be  imagined,  of  all  minor  fea- 
tures ;  so  that  for  every  constant  difference  between  the 
Gorilla's  skull  and  the  Man's,  a  similar  constant  difference 
of  the  same  order  (that  is  to  say,  consisting  in  excess  or 
defect  of  the  same  quality)  may  be  found  between  the  Go- 
rilla's skull  and  that  of  some  other  ape.  So  that,  for  the 
skull,  no  less  than  for  the  skeleton  in  general,  the  proposi- 
tion holds  good,  that  the  differences  between  Man  and  the 
Gorilla  are  of  smaller  value  than  those  between  the  Gorilla 
and  some  other  Apes. 

In  connection  with  the  skull,  I  may  speak  of  the  teeth 
— organs  which  have  a  peculiar  classificatory  value,  and 
whose  resemblances  and  differences  of  number,  form,  and 
succession,  taken  as  a  whole,  are  usually  regarded  as  more 
trustworthy  indicators  of  affinity  than  any  others. 


*J8  THE   RELATIONS    OF   MAN 

Man  is  provided  with  two  sets  of  teeth — milk  teeth 
and  permanent  teeth.  The  former  consist  of  four  incisors, 
or  cutting-teeth  ;  two  canines,  or  eye-teeth  ;  and  four  mo- 
lars, or  grinders,  in  each  jaw,  making  twenty  in  all.  The 
latter  (Fig.  18)  comprise  four  incisors,  two  canines,  four 
small  grinders,  called  premolars  or  false  molars,  and  six 
large  grinders,  or  true  molars  in  each  jaw — making  thirty- 
two  in  all.  The  internal  incisors  are  larger  than  the  ex- 
ternal pair,  in  the  upper  jaw,  smaller  than  the  external 
pair,  in  the  lower  jaw.  The  crowns  of  the  npper  molars 
exhibit  four  cusps,  or  blunt-pointed  elevations,  and  a  ridge 
crosses  the  crown  obliquely,  from  the  inner,  anterior,  cusp 
to  the  outer,  posterior  cusp  (Fig.  18  ms).  The  anterior 
lower  molars  have  five  cusps,  three  external  and  two  in- 
ternal. The  premolars  have  two  cusps,  one  internal  and 
one  external,  of  which  the  outer  is  the  higher. 

In  all  these  respects  the  dentition  of  the  Gorilla  may 
be  described  in  the  same  terms  as  that  of  Man  ;  but  in 
other  matters  it  exhibits  many  and  important  diiferences 
(Fig.  18). 

Thus  the  teeth  of  man  constitute  a  regular  and  even 
series — without  any  break  and  without  any  marked  pro- 
jection of  one  tooth  above  the  level  of  the  rest ;  a  pecu- 
liarity which,  as  Cuvier  long  ago  showed,  is  shared  by  no 
other  mammal  save  one — as  different  a  creature  from  man 
as  can  well  be  imagined — namely,  the  long  extinct  Anoplo- 
therium.  The  teeth  of  the  Gorilla,  on  the  contrary,  ex- 
hibit a  break,  or  interval,  termed  the  diastema,  in  both 
jaws :  in  front  of  the  eye-tooth,  or  between  it  and  the 
outer  incisor,  in  the  upper  jaw;  behind  the  eye-tooth,  or 
between  it  and  the  front  false  molar  in  the  lower  jaw. 
Into  this  break  in  the  series,  in  each  jaw,  fits  the  canine 
of  the  opposite  jaw  ;  the  size  of  the  eye-tooth  in  the  Go- 
rilla being  so  great  that  it  projects,  like  a  tusk,  far  beyond 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS. 


99 


Man. 


Gorilla 


Chriromys. 


FIG.  1 8. — Lateral  views,  of  the  same  length,  of  the  upper  jaws  of  various 
Primates,  t,  incisors ;  <r,  canines ;  pm,  premolars ;  m,  molars.  A  line  is 
drawn  through  the  first  molar  of  Man,  Gorilla,  Cynocephalus,  and  Cebus,  and 
the  grinding  surface  of  the  second  molar  is  shown  in  each,  its  anterior  and  in- 
ternal angle  being  just  above  the  m  of »«'. 


THE   RELATIONS    OF   MAN 

the  general  level  of  the  other  teeth.  The  roots  of  the  false 
molar  teeth  of  the  Gorilla,  again,  are  more  complex  than 
in  Man,  and  the  proportional  size  of  the  molars  is  differ- 
ent. The  Gorilla  has  the  crown  of  the  hindmost  grinder 
of  the  lower  jaw  more  complex,  and  the  order  of  eruption 
of  the  permanent  teeth  is  different ;  the  permanent  ca- 
nines making  their  appearance  before  the  second  and  third 
molars  in  Man,  and  after  them  in  the  Gorilla. 

Thus,  while  the  teeth  of  the  Gorilla  closely  resemble 
those  of  Man  in  number,  kind,  and  in  the  general  pattern 
of  their  crowns,  they  exhibit  marked  differences  from 
those  of  Man  in  secondary  respects,  such  as  relative  size, 
number  of  fangs,  and  order  of  appearance. 

But,  if  the  teeth  of  the  Gorilla  be  compared  with  those 
of  an  Ape,  no  further  removed  from  it  than  a  Cynocepha- 
lus,  or  Baboon,  it  will  be  found  that  differences  and  re- 
semblances of  the  same  order  are  easily  observable ;  but 
that  many  of  the  points  in  which  the  Gorilla  resembles 
Man  are  those  in  which  it  differs  from  the  Baboon  ;  while 
various  respects  in  which  it  differs  from  Man  are  exagger- 
ated in  the  Cynocephalus.  The  number  and  the  nature 
of  the  teeth  remain  the  same  in  the  Baboon  as  in  the  Go- 
rilla and  in  Man.  But  the  pattern  of  the  Baboon's  upper 
molars  is  quite  different  from  that  described  above  (Fig. 
18),  the  canines  are  proportionally  longer  and  more  knife- 
like  ;  the  anterior  premolar  in  the  lower  jaw  is  specially 
modified ;  the  posterior  molar  of  the  lower  jaw  is  still 
larger  and  more  complex  than  in  the  Gorilla. 

Passing  from  the  old-world  Apes  to  those  of  the  new 
world,  we  meet  with  a  change  of  much  greater  importance 
than  any  of  these.  In  such  a  genus  as  Cebus,  for  example 
(Fig.  18),  it  will  be  found  that  while  in  some  secondary 
points,  such  as  the  projection  of  the  canines  and  the  dias- 
tema,  the  resemblance  to  the  great  ape  is  preserved  ;  in 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  101 

other  and  most  important  respects,  the  dentition  is  ex- 
tremely different.  Instead  of  20  teeth  in  the  milk  set, 
there  are  24 :  instead  of  32  teeth  in  the  permanent  set, 
there  are  36,  the  false  molars  being  increased  from  eight 
to  twelve.  And  in  form  the  crowns  of  the  molars  are 
very  unlike  those  of  the  Gorilla,  and  differ  far  more  widely 
from  the  human  pattern. 

The  Marmosets,  on  the  other  hand,  exhibit  the  same 
number  of  teeth  as  Man  and  the  Gorilla  ;  but,  notwith- 
standing this,  their  dentition  is  very  different,  for  they 
have  four  more  false  molars,  like  the  other  American  mon- 
keys— but  as  they  have  four  fewer  true  molars,  the  total 
remains  the  same.  And  passing  from  the  American  apes 
to  the  Lemurs,  the  dentition  becomes  still  more  com- 
pletely and  essentially  different  from  that  of  the  Gorilla. 
The  incisors  begin  to  vary  both  in  number  and  in  form. 
The  molars  acquire,  more  and  more,  a  many-pointed,  in- 
sectivorous character,  and  in  one  Genus,  the  Aye-Aye 
(Cheiromys),  the  canines  disappear,  and  the  teeth  com- 
pletely simulate  those  of  a  Rodent  (Fig.  18). 

Hence  it  is  obvious  that,  greatly  as  the  dentition  of  the 
highest  Ape  differs  from  that  of  Man,  it  differs  far  more 
widely  from  that  of  the  lower  and  lowest  Apes. 

Whatever  part  of  the  animal  fabric — whatever  series 
of  muscles,  whatever  viscera  might  be  selected  for  com- 
parison— the  result  would  be  the  same — the  lower  Apes 
and  the  Gorilla  would  differ  more  than  the  Gorilla  and 
the  Man.  I  cannot  attempt  in  this  place  to  follow  out  all 
these  comparisons  in  detail,  and  indeed  it  is  unnecessary  I 
should  do  so.  But  certain  real,  or  supposed,  structural  dis- 
tinctions between  man  and  the  apes  remain,  upon  which 
BO  much  stress  has  been  laid,  that  they  require  careful 
consideration,  in  order  that  the  true  value  may  be  assigned 


102  THE   EELATIONS    OF  MAN 

to  those  which  are  real,  and  the  emptiness  of  those  which 
are  fictitious  may  be  exposed.  I  refer  to  the  characters  of 
the  hand,  the  foot,  and  the  brain. 

Man  has  been  defined  as  the  only  animal  possessed  of 
two  hands  terminating  his  fore  limbs,  and  of  two  feet  end- 
ing his  hind  limbs,  while  it  has  been  said  that  all  the  apes 
possess  four  hands ;  and  he  has  been  affirmed  to  differ 
fundamentally  from  all  the  apes  in  the  characters  of  his 
brain,  which  alone,  it  has  been  strangely  asserted  and  re- 
asserted, exhibits  the  structures  known  to  anatomists  as 
the  posterior  lobe,  the  posterior  cornu  of  the  lateral  ven- 
tricle and  the  hippocampus  minor. 

That  the  former  proposition  should  have  gained  gen- 
eral acceptance  is  not  surprising — indeed,  at  first  sight, 
appearances  are  much  in  its  favour  :  but,  as  for  the  second, 
one  can  only  admire  the  surpassing  courage  of  its  enunci- 
ator,  seeing  that  it  is  an  innovation  which  is  not  only  op- 
posed to  generally  and  justly  accepted  doctrines,  but  which 
is  directly  negatived  by  the  testimony  of  all  original  in- 
quirers, who  have  specially  investigated  the  matter :  and 
that  it  neither  has  been,  nor  can  be,  supported  by  a  single 
anatomical  preparation.  It  would,  in  fact,  be  unworthy 
of  serious  refutation,  except  for  the  general  and  natural 
belief  that  deliberate  and  reiterated  assertions  must  have 
some  foundation. 

Before  we  can  discuss  the  first  point  with  advantage 
we  must  consider  with  some  attention,  and  compare  to- 
gether, the  structure  of  the  human  hand  and  that  of  the 
human  foot,  so  that  we  may  have  distinct  and  clear  ideas 
of  what  constitutes  a  hand  and  what  a  foot. 

The  external  form  of  the  human  hand  is  familiar 
enough  to  every  one.  It  consists  of  a  stout  wrist  followed 
by  a  broad  palm,  formed  of  flesh,  and  tendons,  and  skin, 


TO   THE   LOWER    ANIMALS.  103 

binding  together  four  bones,  and  dividing  into  four  long 
and  flexible  digits,  or  fingers,  eacli  of  which  bears  on  the 
back  of  its  last  joint  a  broad  and  flattened  nail.  The  long- 
est cleft  between  any  two  digits  is  rather  less  than  half  as 
long  as  the  hand.  From  the  outer  side  of  the  base  of  the 
palm  a  stout  digit  goes  off,  having  only  two  joints  instead 
of  three  ;  so  short,  that  it  only  reaches  to  a  little  beyond 
the  middle  of  the  first  joint  of  the  finger  next  it ;  and  fur- 
ther remarkable  by  its  great  mobility,  in  consequence  of 
which  it  can  be  directed  outwards,  almost  at  a  right  angle 
to  the  rest.  This  digit  is  called  the  * pollex]  or  thumb ; 
and,  like  the  others,  it  bears  a  flat  nail  upon  the  back  of 
its  terminal  joint.  In  consequence  of  the  proportions  and 
mobility  of  the  thumb,  it  is  what  is  termed  ';  opposable  ; " 
in  other  words,  its  extremity  can,  with  the  greatest  ease, 
be  brought  into  contact  with  the  extremities  of  any  of  the 
fingers  ;  a  property  upon  which  the  possibility  of  our 
carrying  into  effect  the  conceptions  of  the  mind  so  largely 
depends. 

The  external  form  of  the  foot  differs  widely  from  that 
of  the  hand ;  and  yet,  when  closely  compared,  the  two 
present  some  singular  resemblances.  Thus  the  ankle  cor- 
responds in  a  manner  with  the  wrist ;  the  sole  with  the 
palm  ;  the  toes  with  the  fingers  ;  the  great  toe  with  the 
thumb.  But  the  toes,  or  digits  of  the  foot,  are  far  shorter 
in  proportion  than  the  digits  of  the  hand,  and  are  less 
moveable,  the  want  of  mobility  being  most  striking  in  the 
great  toe — which,  again,  is  very  much  larger  in  propor- 
tion to  the  other  toes  than  the  thumb  to  the  fingers.  In 
considering  this  point,  however,  it  must  not  be  forgotten 
that  the  civilized  great  toe,  confined  and  cramped  from 
childhood  upwards,  is  seen  to  a  great  disadvantage,  and 
that  in  uncivilized  and  barefooted  people  it  retains  a  great 
amount  of  mobility,  and  even  some  sort  of  opposability. 


104 


THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 


The  Chinese  boatmen  are  said  to  be  able  to  pull  an  oar ; 
the  artisans  of  Bengal  to  weave,  and  the  Carajas  to  steal 
fishhooks  by  its  help ;  though,  after  all,  it  must  be  recol- 
lected that  the  structure  of  its  joints  and  the  arrangement 
of  its  bones,  necessarily  render  its  prehensile  action  far  less 
perfect  than  that  of  the  thumb. 

But  to  gain  a  precise  conception  of  the  resemblances 
and  differences  of  the  hand  and  foot,  and  of  the  distinctive 


ft,' 


Hand. 

FIG.  19. — The  skeleton  of  the  Hand  and  Foot  of  Man  reduced  from  Dr. 
Carter's  drawings  in  Gray's  '  Anatomy.'  The  hand  is  drawn  to  a  larger  scale 
than  the  foot.  The  line  a  a  in  the  hand  indicates  the  boundary  between  the 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  105 

characters  of  each,  we  must  look  below  the  skin,  and  com- 
pare the  bony  framework  and  its  motor  apparatus  in  each 
(Fig.  19). 

The  skeleton  of  the  hand  exhibits,  in  the  region  which 
we  term  the  wrist,  and  which  is  technically  called  the 
carpus — two  rows  of  closely  fitted  polygonal  bones,  four 
in  each  row,  which  are  tolerably  equal  in  size.  The  bones 
of  the  first  row  with  the  bones  of  the  forearm,  form  the 
wrist  or  joint,  and  are  arranged  side  by  side,  no  one 
greatly  exceeding  or  overlapping  the  rest. 

The  four  bones  of  the  second  row  of  the  carpus  bear 
the  four  long  bones  which  support  the  palm  of  the  hand. 
The  fifth  bone  of  the  same  character  is  articulated  in  a 
much  more  free  and  moveable  manner  than  the  others, 
with  its  carpal  bone,  and  forms  the  base  of  the  thumb. 
These  are  called  metacarpal  bones,  and  they  carry  the 
phalanges,  or  bones  of  the  digits,  of  which  there  are  two 
in  the  thumb  and  three  in  each  of  the  fingers. 

The  skeleton  of  the  foot  is  very  like  that  of  the  hand 
in  some  respects.  Thus  there  are  three  phalanges  in  each 
of  the  lesser  toes,  and  only  two  in  the  great  toe,  which 
answers  to  the  thumb.  There  is  a  long  bone  termed  mel- 
alarsal,  answering  to  the  metacarpal,  for  each  digit ;  and 
the  tarsus  which  corresponds  with  the  carpus,  presents 
four  short  polygonal  bones  in  a  row,  which  correspond 
very  closely  with  the  four  carpal  bones  of  the  second  row 
of  the  hand.  In  other  respects  the  foot  differs  very  widely 
from  the  hand.  Thus  the  great  toe  is  the  longest  digit 


carpus  and  the  metacarpus;  6  b  that  between  the  latter  and  the  proximal  pha- 
langes ;  c  c  marks  the  ends  of  the  distal  phalanges.  The  line  a'  «'  in  the  foot 
indicates  the  boundary  between  the  tarsus  and  the  metatarsus ;  b'  b'  marks 
that  between  the  metatarsus  and  the  proximal  phalanges ;  and  c'  c'  bounds 
the  ends  of  the  distal  phalanges :  ca,  the  calcaneum ;  as,  the  astragalus ;  *<?, 
the  scaphoid  bone  in  the  tarsus. 
5* 


106  THE   RELATIONS    OF   MAN 

but  one ;  and  its  metatarsal  is  far  less  moveably  articu- 
lated with  the  tarsus,  than  the  metacarpal  of  the  thumb 
with  the  carpus.  But  a  far  more  important  distinction 
lies  in  the  fact  that,  instead  of  four  more  tarsal  bones  there 
are  only  three  ;  and  that  these  three  are  not  arranged  side 
by  side,  or  in  one  row.  One  of  them,  the  os  calcis  or  heel 
bone  (c«),lies  externally,  and  sends  back  the  large  project- 
ing heel ;  another,  the  astragalus  (as\  rests  on  this  by  one 
face,  and  by  another,  forms,  with  the  bones  of  the  leg,  the 
ankle  joint ;  while  a  third  face,  directed  forwards,  is  sepa- 
rated from  the  three  inner  tarsal  bones  of  the  row  next 
the  metatarsus  by  a  bone  called  the  scaphoid  (sc}. 

Thus  there  is  a  fundamental  difference  in  the  structure 
of  the  foot  and  the  hand,  observable  when  the  carpus  and 
the  tarsus  are  contrasted ;  and  there  are  differences  of 
degree  noticeable  when  the  proportions  and  the  mobility 
of  the  metacarpals  and  metatarsals,  with  their  respective 
digits,  are  compared  together. 

The  same  two  classes  of  differences  become  obvious 
when  the  muscles  of  the  hand  are  compared  with  those  of 
the  foot. 

Three  principal  sets  of  muscles,  called  "  flexors,"  bend 
the  fingers  and  thumb,  as  in  clenching  the  fist,  and  three 
sets, — the  extensors — extend  them,  as  in  straightening  the 
fingers.  These  muscles  are  all  "  long  muscles  ; "  that  is 
to  say,  the  fleshy  part  of  each,  lying  in  and  being  fixed 
to  the  bones  of  the  arm,  is,  at  the  other  end,  continued 
into  tendons,  or  rounded  cords,  which  pass  into  the  hand, 
and  are  ultimately  fixed  to  the  bones  which  are  to  be 
moved.  Thus,  when  the  fingers  are  bent,  the  fleshy  parts 
of  the  flexors  of  the  fingers,  placed  in  the  arm,  contract, 
in  virtue  of  their  peculiar  endowment  as  muscles ;  and 
pulling  the  tendinous  cords,  connected  with  their  ends, 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  107 

cause  them  to  pull  down  the  bones  of  the  fingers  towards 
the  palm. 

Not  only  are  the  principal  flexors  of  the  fingers  and  of 
the  thumb  long  muscles,  but  they  remain  quite  distinct 
from  one  another  throughout  their  whole  length. 

In  the  foot,  there  are  also  three  principal  flexor  mus- 
cles of  the  digits  or  toes,  and  three  principal  extensors ; 
but  one  extensor  and  one  flexor  are  short  muscles ;  that  is 
to  say,  their  fleshy  parts  are  not  situated  in  the  leg  (which 
corresponds  with  the  arm),  but  in  the  back  and  in  the  sole 
of  the  foot — regions  which  correspond  with  the  back  and 
the  palm  of  the  hand. 

Again,  the  tendons  of  the  long  flexor  of  the  toes,  and 
of  the  long  flexor  of  the  great  toe,  when  they  reach  the 
sole  of  the  foot,  do  not  remain  distinct  from  one  another, 
as  the  flexors  in  the  palm  of  the  hand  do,  but  they  become 
united  and  commingled  in  a  very  curious  manner — while 
their  united  tendons  receive  an  accessory  muscle  con- 
nected with  the  heel-bone. 

But  perhaps  the  most  absolutely  distinctive  character 
about  the  muscles  of  the  foot  is  the  existence  of  what  is 
termed  the  peronceus  longus,  a  long  muscle  fixed  to  the 
outer  bone  of  the  leg,  and  sending  its  tendon  to  the  outer 
ankle,  behind  and  below  which  it  passes,  and  then  crosses 
the  foot  obliquely  to  be  attached  to  the  base  of  the  great 
toe.  No  muscle  in  the  hand  exactly  corresponds  with 
this,  which  is  eminently  a  foot  muscle. 

To  resume — the  foot  of  man  is  distinguished  from  his 
hand  by  the  following  absolute  anatomical  differences  : — 

1.  By  the  arrangement  of  the  tarsal  bones. 

2.  By  having  a  short  flexor  and  a  short  extensor 

muscle  of  the  digits. 

3.  By  possessing  the  muscle  termed  peroncem  lon- 

gus. 


108  THE   EELATTOXS    OF   MAN 

And  if  we  desire  to  ascertain  whether  the  terminal 
division  of  a  limb,  in  other  Primates,  is  to  be  called  a  foot 
or  a  hand,  it  is  by  the  presence  or  absence  of  these  char- 
acters that  we  must  be  guided,  and  not  by  the  mere  pro- 
portions and  greater  or  lesser  mobility  of  the  great  toe, 
which  may  vaiy  indefinitely  without  any  fundamental 
alteration  in  the  structure  of  the  foot. 

Keeping  these  considerations  in  mind,  let  us  now  turn 
to  the  limbs  of  the  Gorilla.  The  terminal  division  of  the 
fore  limb  presents  no  difficulty — bone  for  bone  and  muscle 
for  muscle,  are  found  to  be  arranged  essentially  as  in  man, 
or  with  such  minor  differences  as  are  found  as  varieties  in 
man.  The  Gorilla's  hand  is  clumsier,  heavier,  and  has  a 
thumb  somewhat  shorter  in  proportion  than  that  of  man  ; 
but  no  one  has  ever  doubted  its  being  a  true  hand. 

At  first  sight,  the  termination  of  the  hind  limb  of  the 
Gorilla  looks  very  hand-like,  and  as  it  is  still  more  so  in 
many  of  the  lower  apes,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  the  appel- 
lation "  Quadrumana,"  or  four-handed  creatures,  adopted 
from  the  older  anatomists*  by  Blumenbach,  and  unfortu- 
nately rendered  current  by  Cuvier,  should  have  gained 
such  wide  acceptance  as  a  name  for  the  Simian  group. 
But  the  most  cursory  anatomical  investigation  at  once 

*  In  speaking  of  the  foot  of  his  "Pygmie,"  Tyson  remarks,  p.  13  : — 
"But  this  part  in  the  formation  and  in  its  function  too,  being  liker  a  Hand 
than  a  Foot :  for  the  distinguishing  this  sort  of  animals  from  others,  I  have 
thought  whether  it  might  not  be  reckoned  and  called  rather  Quadru-manus 
than  Quadrupes,  i.  e.  a  four-handed  rather  than  a  four-footed  animal." 

As  this  passage  was  published  in  1699,  M.  I.  G.  St.  Ililaire  is  clearly  in 
error  in  ascribing  the  invention  of  the  term  "  quadrumanous "  to  Buffon, 
though  "bimanous"  may  belong  to  him.  Tyson  uses  -'  Quadrumanus "  in 

several  places,  as  at  p.  91 "  Our  Pygmie  is  no  Man,  nor  yet  the 

common  Ape,  but  a  sort  of  Animal  between  both  ;  and  though  a  Biped,  yet 
of  the  Quadrumanus-kindi :  though  some  Men  too  have  been  observed  to  use 
their  Feet  like  Hand*,  as  I  have  seen  several." 


TO   THE   LOWfcR   ANIMALS.  109 

proves  that  the  resemblance  of  the  so-called  "  hind  hand  V 
to  a  true  hand,  is  only  skin  deep,  and  that,  in  all  essential 
respects,  the  hind  limb  of  the  Gorilla  is  as  truly  terminated 
by  a  foot  as  that  of  man.  The  tarsal  bones,  in  all  impor- 
tant circumstances  of  number,  disposition,  and  form,  re- 
semble those  of  man  (Fig.  20).  The  metatarsals  and 
digits,  on  the  other  hand,  are  proportionally  longer  and 
more  slender,  while  the  great  toe  is  not  only  proportion- 
ally shorter  and  weaker,  but  its  metatarsal  bone  is  united 
by  a  more  moveable  joint  with  the  tarsus.  At  the  same 
time,  the  foot  is  set  more  obliquely  upon  the  leg  than  in 
man. 

As  to  the  muscles,  there  is  a  short  flexor,  a  short  ex- 
tensor, and  a  peronceus  longus,  while  the  tendons  of  the 
long  flexors  of  the  great  toe  and  of  the  other  toes  are 
united  together  and  with  an  accessory  fleshy  bundle. 

The  hind  limb  of  the  Gorilla,  therefore,  ends  in  a  true 
foot,  with  a  very  moveable  great  toe.  It  is  a  prehensile 
foot,  indeed,  but  in  no  sense  a  hand :  it  is  a  foot  which 
differs  from  that  of  man  not  in  any  fundamental  charac- 
ter, but  in  mere  proportions,  in  the  degree  of  mobility,  and 
in  the  secondary  arrangement  of  its  parts. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  because  I  speak  of 
these  differences  as  not  fundamental,  that  I  wish  to  under- 
rate their  value.  They  are  important  enough  in  their 
way,  the  structure  of  the  foot  being  in  strict  correlation 
with  that  of  the  rest  of  the  organism  in  each  case.  Nor 
can  it  be  doubted  that  the  greater  division  of  physiologi- 
cal labour  in  M#n,  so  that  the  function  of  support  is 
thrown  wholly  on  the  leg  and  foot,  is  an  advance  in  the 
organization  of  very  great  moment  to  him  ;  but,  after  all, 
regarded  anatomically,  the  resemblances  between  the  foot 
of  Man  and  the  foot  of  the  Gorilla  are  far  more  striking 
and  important  than  the  differences. 


110 


THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 


I  have  dwelt  upon  this  point  at  length,  because  it  is 
one  regarding  which  much  delusion  prevails  ;  but  I  might 
have  passed  it  over  without  detriment  to  my  argument, 
which  only  requires  me  to  show  that,  be  the  differences 
between  the  hand  and  foot  of  Man  and  those  of  the  Go- 
rilla what  they  may — the  differences  between  those  of  the 
Gorilla  and  those  of  the  lower  Apes  are  much  greater. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  descend  lower  in  the  scale  than 
the  Orang  for  conclusive  evidence  on  this  head. 

The  thumb  of  the  Orang  differs  more  from  that  of  the 
Gorilla  than  the  thumb  of  the  Gorilla  differs  from  that  of 
Man,  not  only  by  its  shortness,  but  by  the  absence  of  any 


JMttT) 


FIG.  20. — Foot  of  Man,  Gorilla,  and  Orang-Utan  of  the  same  absolute 
length,  to  show  the  differences  in  proportion  of  each.  Letters  as  in  Fig.  19. 
Reduced  from  original  drawings  by  Mr.  Waterhouse  Hawkins. 


TO   THE   LOWEK   ANIMALS.  Ill 

special  long  flexor  muscle.  The  carpus  of  the  Orang, 
like  that  of  most  lower  apes,  contains  nine  bones,  while  in 
the  Gorilla,  as  in  Man  and  the  Chimpanzee,  there  are 
only  eight. 

The  Orang's  foot  (Fig.  20)  is  still  more  aberrant ;  its 
very  long  toes  and  short  tarsus,  short  great  toe,  short  and 
raised  heel,  great  obliquity  of  articulation  in  the  leg,  and 
absence  of  a  long  flexor  tendon  to  the  great  toe,  separating 
it  far  more  widely  from  the  foot  of  the  Gorilla  than  the 
latter  is  separated  from  that  of  Man. 

But,  in  some  of  the  lower  apes,  the  hand  and  foot 
diverge  still  more  from  those  of  the  Gorilla,  than  they  do 
in  the  Orang.  The  thumb  ceases  to  be  opposable  in  the 
American  monkeys ;  is  reduced  to  a  mere  rudiment  cov- 
ered by  the  skin  in  the  Spider  Monkey  ;  and  is  directed 
forwards  and  armed  with  a  curved  claw  like  the  other 
digits,  in  the  Marmosets — so  that,  in  all  these  cases,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  hand  is  more  different  from 
that  of  the  Gorilla  than  the  Gorilla's  hand  is  from  Man's. 

And  as  to  the  foot,  the  great  toe  of  the  Marmoset  is 
still  more  insignificant  in  proportion  than  that  of  the 
Orang — while  in  the  Lemurs  it  is  very  large,  and  as  com- 
pletely thumb-like  and  opposable  as  in  the  Gorilla — but 
in  these  animals  the  second  toe  is  often  irregularly  modi- 
fied, and  in  some  species  the  two  principal  bones  of  the 
tarsus,  the  astragalus  and  the  os  calcis,  are  so  immensely 
elongated  as  to  render  the  foot,  so  far,  totally  unlike  that 
of  any  other  mammal. 

So  with  regard  to  the  muscles.  The  short  flexor  of 
the  toes  of  the  Gorilla  differs  from  that  of  Man  by  the  cir- 
cumstance that  one  slip  of  the  muscle  is  attached,  not  to 
the  heel  bone,  but  to  the  tendons  of  the  long  flexors.  The 
lower  Apes  depart  from  the  Gorilla  by  an  exaggeration 
of  the  same  character,  two,  three,  or  more,  slips  becoming 


112  THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

fixed  to  the  long  flexor  tendons — or  by  a  multiplication  of 
the  slips. — Again,  the  Gorilla  differs  slightly  from  Man  in 
the  mode  of  interlacing  of  the  long  flexor  tendons  :  and  the 
lower  apes  differ  from  the  Gorilla  in  exhibiting  yet  other, 
sometimes  very  complex,  arrangements  of  the  same  parts, 
and  occasionally  in  the  absence  of  the  accessory  fleshy 
bundle. 

Throughout  all  these  modifications  it  must  be  recol- 

O 

lected  that  the  foot  loses  no  one  of  its  essential  characters. 
Every  Monkey  and  Lemur  exhibits  the  characteristic  ar- 
rangement of  tarsal  bones,  possesses  a  short  flexor  and 
short  extensor  muscle,  and  &peroncBus  longus.  Varied  as 
the  proportions  and  appearance  of  the  organ  may  be,  the 
terminal  division  of  the  hind  limb  remains,  in  plan  and 
principle  of  construction,  a  foot,  and  never,  in  those  re- 
spects, can  be  confounded  with  a  hand. 

Hardly  any  part  of  the  bodily  frame,  then,  could  be 
found  better  calculated  to  illustrate  the  truth  that  the 
structural  differences  between  Man  and  the  highest  Ape 
are  of  less  value  than  those  between  the  highest  and  the 
lower  Apes,  than  the  hand  or  the  foot,  and  yet,  perhaps, 
there  is  one  organ  the  study  of  which  enforces  the  same 
conclusion  in  a  still  more  striking  manner — and  that  is 
the  Brain. 

But  before  entering  upon  the  precise  question  of  the 
amount  of  difference  between  the  Ape's  brain  and  that  of 
Man,  it  is  necessary  that  we  should  clearly  understand 
what  constitutes  a  great,  and  what  a  small  difference  in 
cerebral  structure  ;  and  we  shall  be  best  enabled  to  do 
this  by  a  brief  study  of  the  chief  modifications  which  the 
brain  exhibits  in  the  series  of  vertebrate  animals. 

The  brain  of  a  fish  is  very  small,  compared  with  the 
spinal  cord  into  which  it  is  continued,  and  with  the  nerves 
which  come  off  from  it :  of  the  segments  of  which  it  is 


TO   TIIE   LOWEE   ANIMALS.  113 

composed — the  olfactory  lobes,  the  cerebral  hemisphere, 
and  the  succeeding  divisions — no  one  predominates  BO 
much  over  the  rest  as  to  obscure  or  cover  them  ;  and  the 
BO-called  optic  lobes  are,  frequently,  the  largest  masses  of 
all.  In  Reptiles,  the  mass  of  the  brain,  relatively  to  the 
spinal  cord,  increases  and  the  cerebral  hemispheres  begin 
10  predominate  over  the  other  parts  ;  while  in  Birds  this 
predominance  is  still  more  marked.  The  brain  of  the 
lowest  Mammals,  such  as  the  duck-billed  Platypus  and  the 
Opossums  and  Kangaroos,  exhibits  a  still  more  definite 
advance  in  the  same  direction.  The  cerebral  hemispheres 
have  now  so  much  increased  in  size  as,  more  or  less,  to 
hide  the  representatives  of  the  optic  lobes,  which  remain 
comparatively  small,  so  that  the  brain  of  a  Marsupial  is 
extremely  different  from  that  of  a  Bird,  Reptile,  or  Fish. 
A  step  higher  in  the  scale,  among  the  placental  Mammals, 
the  structure  of  the  brain  acquires  a  vast  modification — 
not  that  it  appears  much  altered  externally,  in  a  Rat  or  in 
a  Rabbit,  from  what  it  is  in  a  Marsupial — nor  that  the 
proportions  of  its  parts  are  much  changed,  but  an  appar- 
ently new  structure  is  found  between  the  cerebral  hemi- 
spheres, connecting  them  together,  as  what  is  called  the 
'  great  commissure '  or  '  corpus  callosum.'  The  subject 
requires  careful  re-investigation,  but  if  the  currently  re- 
ceived statements  are  correct,  the  appearance  of  the  '  cor- 
pus callosum'  in  the  placental  mammals  is  the  greatest 
and  most  sudden  modification  exhibited  by  the  brain  in 
the  whole  series  of  vertebrated  animals — it  is  the  greatest 
leap  anywhere  made  by  Nature  in  her  brain  work.  For 
the  two  halves  of  the  brain  being  once  thus  knit  together, 
the  progress  of  cerebral  complexity  is  traceable  through  a 
complete  series  of  steps  from  the  lowest  Rodent,  or  Insect- 
ivore,  to  Man  ;  and  that  complexity  consists,  chiefly,  in 
the  disproportionate  development  of  the  cerebral  hemi- 


114:  THE   EELATIONS   OF   MAN 

spheres  and  of  the  cerebellum,  but  especially  of  the  for- 
mer, in  respect  to  the  other  parts  of  the  brain. 

In  the  lower  placental  mammals,  the  cerebral  hemi- 
spheres leave  the  proper  upper  and  posterior  face  of  the 
cerebellum  completely  visible,  when  the  brain  is  viewed 
from  above,  but,  in  the  higher  forms,  the  hinder  part  of 
each  hemisphere,  separated  only  by  the  tentoriuin  (p.  117) 
from  the  anterior  face  of  the  cerebellum,  inclines  back- 
wards and  downwards,  and  grows  out,  as  the  so-called 
"  posterior  lobe,"  so  as  at  length  to  overlap  and  hide  the 
cerebellum.  In  all  Mammals,  each  cerebral  hemisphere 
contains  a  cavity  which  is  termed  the  '  ventricle '  and  as 
this  ventricle  is  prolonged,  on  the  one  hand,  forwards,  and 
on  the  other  downwards,  into  the  substance  of  the  hemi- 
sphere, it  is  said  to  have  two  horns  or  '  cornua,'  an  '  ante- 
rior cornu,'  and  a  *  descending  cornu.'  When  the  poste- 
rior lobe  is  well  developed,  a  third  prolongation  of  the 
ventricular  cavity  extends  into  it,  and  is  called  the  "  pos- 
terior cornu." 

In  the  lower  and  smaller  forms  of  placental  Mammals 
the  surface  of  the  cerebral  hemispheres  is  either  smooth  or 
evenly  rounded,  or  exhibits  a  very  few  grooves,  which 
are  technically  termed  '  sulci,'  separating  ridges  or  '  con- 
volutions '  of  the  substance  of  the  brain  ;  and  the  smaller 
species  of  all  orders  tend  to  a  similar  smoothness  of  brain. 
But  in  the  higher  orders,  and  especially  the  larger  mem- 
bers of  these  orders,  the  grooves,  or  sulci,  become  ex- 
tremely numerous,  and  the  intermediate  convolutions  pro- 
portionately more  complicated  in  their  meanderings,  until, 
in  the  Elephant,  the  Porpoise,  the  higher  Apes,  and  Man, 
the  cerebral  surface  appears  a  perfect  labyrinth  of  tortuous 
foldings. 

Where  a  posterior  lobe  exists  and  presents  its  custom- 
ary cavity — the  posterior  cornu — it  commonly  happens 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  115 

that  a  particular  sulcus  appears  upon  the  inner  and  under 
surface  of  the  lobe,  parallel  with  and  beneath  the  floor  of 
the  cornu — which  is,  as  it  were,  arched  over  the  roof  of 
the  sulcus.  It  is  as  if  the  groove  had  been  formed  by  in- 
denting the  floor  of  the  posterior  horn  from  without  with 
a  blunt  instrument,  so  that  the  floor  should  rise  as  a  con- 
vex eminence.  Now  this  eminence  is  what  has  been 
termed  the  '  Hippocampus  minor  ; '  the  *  Hippocampus 
major '  being  a  larger  eminence  in  the  floor  of  the  de- 
scending cornu.  What  may  be  the  functional  importance 
of  either  of  these  structures  we  know  not. 

As  if  to  demonstrate,  by  a  striking  example,  the  im- 
possibility of  erecting  any  cerebral  barrier  between  man 
and  the  apes,  Nature  has  provided  us,  in  the  latter  ani- 
mals, with  an  almost  complete  series  of  gradations  from 
brains  little  higher  than  that  of  a  Rodent,  to  brains  little 
lower  than  that  of  Man.  And  it  is  a  remarkable  circum- 
stance,- that  though,  so  far  as  our  present  knowledge  ex- 
tends, there  is  one  true  structural  break  in  the  series  of 
forms  of  Simian  brains,  this  hiatus  does  not  lie  between 
Man  and  the  man-like  apes,  but  between  the  lower  and 
the  lowest  Simians ;  or,  in  other  words,  between  the  old 
and  new  world  apes  and  monkeys,  and  the  Lemurs. 
Every  Lemur  which  has  yet  been  examined,  in  fact,  has 
its  cerebellum  partially  visible  from  above,  and  its  poste- 
rior lobe,  with  the  contained  posterior  cornu  and  hippo- 
campus minor,  more  or  less  rudimentary.  Every  Marmo- 
set, American  monkey,  old  world  monkey,  Baboon,  or 
Man-like  ape,  on  the  contrary,  has  its  cerebellum  entirely 
hidden,  posteriorly,  by  the  cerebral  lobes,  and  possesses  a 
large  posterior  cornu,  with  a  well  developed  hippocampus 
minor. 

In  many  of  these  creatures,  such  as  the  Sairniri  (CJiry- 


116  THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

sothrix),  the  cerebral  lobes  overlap  and  extend  much  fur- 
ther behind  the  cerebellum,  in  proportion,  than  they  do 
in  man  (Fig.  17) — and  it  is  quite  certain  that,  in  all,  the 
cerebellum  is  completely  covered  behind,  by  well  devel- 
oped posterior  lobes.  The  fact  can  be  verified  by  every 
one  who  possesses  the  skull  of  any  old  or  new  world  mon- 
key. For,  inasmuch  as  the  brain  in  all  mammals  com- 
pletely fills  the  cranial  cavity,  it  is  obvious  that  a  cast  of  the 
interior  of  the  skull  will  reproduce  the  general  form  of  the 
brain,  at  any  rate  with  such  minute  and,  for  the  present 
purpose,  utterly  unimportant  differences  as  may  result 
from  the  absence  of  the  enveloping  membranes  of  the 
brain  in  the  dry  skull.  But  if  such  a  cast  be  made  in 
plaster,  and  compared  with  a  similar  cast  of  the  interior 
of  a  human  skull,  it  will  be  obvious  that  the  cast  of  the 
cerebral  chamber,  representing  the  cerebrum  of  the  ape, 
as  completely  covers  over  and  overlaps  the  cast  of  the 
cerebellar  chamber,  representing  the  cerebellum,  as  it 
does  in  the  man  (Fig.  21).  A  careless  observer,  forgetting 
that  a  soft  structure  like  the  brain  loses  its  proper  shape 
the  moment  it  is  taken  out  of  the  skull,  may  indeed  mis- 
take the  uncovered  condition  of  the  cerebellum  of  an  ex- 
tracted and  distorted  brain  for  the  natural  relations  of  the 
parts  ;  but  his  error  must  become  patent  even  to  himself 
if  he  try  to  replace  the  brain  within  the  cranial  chamber. 
To  suppose  that  the  cerebellum  of  an  ape  is  naturally  un- 
covered behind  is  a  miscomprehension  comparable  only  to 
that  of  one  who  should  imagine  that  a  man's  lungs  always 
occupy  but  a  small  portion  of  the  thoracic  cavity — because 
they  do  so  when  the  chest  is  opened,  and  their  elasticity 
is  no  longer  neutralized  by  the  pressure  of  the  air. 

And  the  error  is  the  less  excusable,  as  it  must  become 
apparent  to  every  one  who  examines  a  section  of  the 
skull  of  any  ape  above  a  Lemur,  without  taking  the 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS. 


117 


trouble  to  make  a  cast  of  it.  For  there  is  a  very  marked 
groove  in  every  such  skull,  as  in  the  human  skull — which 
indicates  the  line  of  attachment  of  what  is  termed  the  ten- 
torium — a  sort  of  parchment-like  shelf,  or  partition,  which, 


Chimpanzee. 


I  FIG.  21. — Drawings  of  the  internal  casts  of  a  Man's  and  of  a  Chimpanzee's 
•kull,  of  the  same  absolute  length,  and  placed  in  corresponding  positions,  A. 
Cerebrum  ;  B.  Cerebellum.  The  former  drawing  is  taken  from  a  cast  in  the 
Museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  the  latter  from  the  photograph 


118  THE   RELATIONS    OF   MAN 

in  the  recent  state,  is  interposed  between  the  cerebrum 
and  the  cerebellum,  and  prevents  the  former  from  pressing 
upon  the  latter  (see  Fig.  17). 

This  groove,  therefore,  indicates  the  line  of  separation 
between  that  part  of  the  cranial  cavity  which  contains  the 
cerebrum,  and  that  which  contains  the  cerebellum ;  and 
as  the  brain  exactly  fills  the  cavity  of  the  skull,  it  is  ob- 
vious that  the  relations  of  these  two  parts  of  the  cranial 
cavity  at  once  informs  us  of  the  relations  of  their  contents. 
Now  in  man,  in  all  the  old  world,  and  in  all  the  new 
world  Simiae,  with  one  exception,  when  the  face  is  directed 
forwards,  this  line  of  attachment  of  the  tentorium,  or  im- 
pression for  the  lateral  sinus,  as  it  is  technically  called,  is 
nearly  horizontal,  and  the  cerebral  chamber  invariably 
overlaps  or  projects  behind  the  cerebellar  chamber.  In 
the  Howler  Monkey  or  Mycetes  (see  Fig.  IT),  the  line 
passes  obliquely  upwards  and  backwards,  and  the  cerebral 
overlap  is  almost  nil ;  while  in  the  Lemurs,  as  in  the 
lower  mammals,  the  line  is  much  more  inclined  in  the 
same  direction,  and  the  cerebellar  chamber  projects  con- 
siderably beyond  the  cerebral. 

"When  the  gravest  errors  respecting  points  so  easily 
settled  as  this  question  respecting  the  posterior  lobes,  can 
be  authoritatively  propounded,  it  is  no  wonder  that  mat- 
ters of  observation,  of  no  very  complex  character,  but  still 
requiring  a  certain  amount  of  care,  should  have  fared 
worse.  Any  one  who  cannot  see  the  posterior  lobe  in  an 

of  the  cast  of  a  Chimpanzee's  skull,  which  illustrates  the  paper  by  Mr.  Mar- 
shall '  On  the  Brain,  of  the  Chimpanzee '  in  the  Natural  History  Review  for 
July,  1861.  The  sharper  definition  of  the  lower  edge  of  the  cast  of  the 
cerebral  chamber  in  the  Chimpanzee  arises  from  the  circumstance  that  the 
tentorium  remained  in  that  skull  and  not  in  the  Man's.  The  cast  more  accu- 
rately represents  the  brain  in  the  Chimpanzee  than  in  Man ;  and  the  great 
backward  projection  of  the  posterior  lobes  of  the  cerebrum  of  the  former,  be- 
yond the  cerebellum,  is  conspicuous. 


TO   THE   LOWKB   ANIMALS.  119 

ape's  brain  is  not  likely  to  give  a  very  valuable  opinion 
respecting  the  posterior  cornu  or  the  hippocampus  minor. 
If  a  man  cannot  see  a  church,  it  is  preposterous  to  take 
his  opinion  about  its  altar-piece  or  painted  window — so 
that  I  do  not  feel  bound  to  enter  upon  any  discussion  of 
these  points,  but  content  myself  with  assuring  the  reader 
that  the  posterior  cornu  and  the  hippocampus  minor,  have 
now  been  seen — usually,  at  least  as  well  developed  as  in 
man,  and  often  better — not  only  in  the  Chimpanzee,  the 
Orang,  and  the  Gibbon,  but  in  all  the  genera  of  the  old 
world  baboons  and  monkeys,  and  in  most  of  the  new  world 
forms,  including  the  Marmosets.* 

In  fact,  all  the  abundant  and  trustworthy  evidence 
(consisting  of  the  results  of  careful  investigations  directed 
to  the  determination  of  these  very  questions,  by  skilled 
anatomists)  which  we  now  possess,  leads  to  the  conviction 
that,  so  far  from  the  posterior  lobe,  the  posterior  cornu, 
and  the  hippocampus  minor,  being  structures  peculiar  to 
and  characteristic  of  man,  as  they  have  been  over  and 
over  again  asserted  to  be,  even  after  the  publication  of  the 
clearest  demonstration  of  the  reverse,  it  is  precisely  these 
structures  which  are  the  most  marked  cerebral  characters 
common  to  man  with  the  apes.  They  are  among  the  most 
distinctly  Simian  peculiarities  which  the  human  organism 
exhibits. 

As  to  the  convolutions,  the  brains  of  the  apes  exhibit 
every  stage  of  progress,  from  the  almost  smooth  brain  of 
the  Marmoset,  to  the  Orang  and  the  Chimpanzee,  which 
fall  but  little  below  Man.  And  it  is  most  remarkable 
that,  as  soon  as  all  the  principal  sulci  appear,  the  pattern 
according  to  which  they  are  arranged  is  identical  with 
that  of  the  corresponding  sulci  of  man.  The  surface  of 

*  See  the  note  at  the  end  of  this  essay  for  a  succinct  history  of  the  con- 
troversy to  which  allusion  is  here  made. 


120  TEE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

the  brain  of  a  monkey  exhibits  a  sort  of  skeleton  map  of 
man's,  and  in  the  man-like  apes  the  details  become  more 
and  more  filled  in,  until  it  is  only  in  minor  characters, 
such  as  the  greater  excavation  of  the  anterior  lobes,  the 
constant  presence  of  fissures  usually  absent  in  man,  and 
the  different  disposition  and  proportions  of  some  convolu- 
tions, that  the  Chimpanzee's  or  the  Orang's  brain  can  be 
structurally  distinguished  from  Man's. 

So  far  as  cerebral  structure  goes,  therefore,  it  is  clear 
that  Man  differs  less  from  the  Chimpanzee  or  the  Orang, 
than  these  do  even  from  the  Monkeys,  and  that  the  differ- 
ence between  the  brains  of  the  Chimpanzee  and  of  Man  is 
almost  insignificant,  when  compared  with  that  between  the 
Chimpanzee  brain  and  that  of  a  Lemur. 

It  must  not  be  overlooked,  however,  that  there  is  a 
very  striking  difference  in  absolute  mass  and  weight  be- 
tween the  lowest  human  brain  and  that  of  the  highest  ape 
— a  difference  which  is  all  the  more  remarkable  when  we 
recollect  that  a  fall  grown  Gorilla  is  probably  pretty  nearly 
twice  as  heavy  as  a  Bosjes  man,  or  as  many  an  European 
woman.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  a  healthy  human 
adult  brain  ever  weighed  less  than  thirty-one  or  -two 
ounces,  or  that  the  heaviest  Gorilla  brain  has  exceeded 
twenty  ounces. 

This  is  a  very  noteworthy  circumstance,  and  doubtless 
will  one  day  help  to  furnish  an  explanation  of  the  great 
gulf  which  intervenes  between  the  lowest  man  and  the 
highest  ape  in  intellectual  power  ;*  but  it  has  little  sys- 

*  I  say  help  to  furnish :  for  I  by  no  means  believe  that  it  was  any  original 
difference  of  cerebral  quality,  or  quantity,  which  caused  that  divergence  be- 
tween the  human  and  the  pithecoid  stirpes,  which  has  ended  in  the  present 
enormous  gulf  between  them.  It  is  no  doubt  perfectly  true,  in  a  certain  sense, 
that  all  difference  of  function  is  a  result  of  difference  of  structure ;  or,  in  other 
words,  of  difference  in  the  combination  of  the  primary  molecular  forces  of 
living  substance ;  and,  starting  from  this  undeniable  axiom,  objectors  occasion- 


TO   THE    LOWER    ANIMALS. 


121 


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122  THE   RELATIONS   OF  MAN 

tematic  value,  for  the  simple  reason  that,  as  may  be  conclud- 
ed from  what  has  been  already  said  respecting  cranial  ca- 
pacity, the  difference  in  weight  of  brain  between  the  highest 
and  the  lowest  men  is  far  greater,  both  relatively  and  abso- 
lutely, than  that  between  the  lowest  man  and  the  highest 
ape.  The  latter,  as  has  been  seen,  is  represented  by,  say 

ally,  and  with  much  seeming  plausibility,  argue  that  the  vast  intellectual  chasm 
between  the  Ape  and  Man  implies  a  corresponding  structural  chasm  in  the 
organs  of  the  intellectual  functions  ;  so  that,  it  is  said,  the  non-discovery  of 
such  vast  differences  proves,  not  that  they  are  absent,  but  that  Science  is  in- 
competent to  detect  them.  A  very  little  consideration,  however,  will,  I  think, 
show  the  fallacy  of  this  reasoning.  Its  validity  hangs  upon  the  assumption, 
that  intellectual  power  depends  altogether  on  the  brain — whereas  the  brain  is 
only  one  condition  out  of  many  on  which  intellectual  manifestations  depend ; 
the  others  being,  chiefly,  the  organs  of  the  senses  and  the  motor  apparatuses, 
especially  those  which  are  concerned  in  prehension  and  in  the  production  of 
articulate  speech. 

A  man  born  dumb,  notwithstanding  his  great  cerebral  mass  and  his  inherit- 
ance of  strong  intellectual  instincts,  would  be  capable  of  few  higher  intellec- 
tual manifestations  than  an  Orang  or  a  Chimpanzee,  if  he  were  confined  to  the 
society  of  dumb  associates.  And  yet  there  might  not  be  the  slightest  discerni- 
ble difference  between  his  brain  and  that  of  a  highly  intelligent  and  cultivated 
person.  The  dumbness  might  be  the  result  of  a  defective  structure  of  the 
mouth,  or  of  the  tongue,  or  a  mere  defective  innervation  of  these  parts;  or  it 
might  result  from  congenital  deafness,  caused  by  some  minute  defect  of  the 
internal  ear,  which  only  a  careful  anatomist  could  discover. 

The  argument,  that  because  there  is  an  immense  difference  between  a  Man'a 
intelligence  and  an  Ape's,  therefore,  there  must  be  an  equally  immense  differ- 
ence between  their  brains,  appears  to  me  to  be  about  as  well  based  as  the 
reasoning  by  which  one  should  endeavour  to  prove  that,  because  there  is  a 
"  great  gulf"  between  a  watch  that  keeps  accurate  time  and  another  that  will 
not  go  at  all,  there  is  therefore  a  great  structural  hiatus  between  the  two 
watches.  A  hair  in  the  balance-wheel,  a  little  rust  on  a  pinion,  a  bend  in  a 
tooth  of  the  escapement,  a  something  so  slight  that  only  the  practised  eye  of 
the  watchmaker  can  discover  it,  may  be  the  source  of  all  the  difference. 

And  believing,  as  I  do,  with  Cuvier,  that  the  possession  of  articulate  speech 
is  the  grand  distinctive  character  of  man  (whether  it  be  absolutely  peculiar  to 
him  or  not),  I  find  it  very  easy  to  comprehend,  that  some  equally  inconspi- 
cuous structural  difference  may  have  been  the  primary  cause  of  the  immeasu- 
rable and  practically  infinite  divergence  of  the  Human  from  the  Simian  Stirps. 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  123 

twelve,  ounces  of  cerebral  substance  absolutely,  or  by  32  : 
20  relatively ;  but  as  the  largest  recorded  human  brain 
weighed  between  65  and  66  ounces,  the  former  difference 
is  represented  by  more  than  33  ounces  absolutely,  or  by 
65  :  32  relatively.  Regarded  systematically,  the  cerebral 
differences,  of  man  and  apes,  are  not  of  more  than  generic 
value — his  Family  distinction  resting  chiefly  on  his  denti- 
tion, his  pelvis,  and  his  lower  limbs. 

Thus,  whatever  system  of  organs  be  studied,  the  compar- 
ison of  their  modifications  in  the  ape  series  leads  to  one  and 
the  same  result — that  the  structural  differences  which  sep- 
arate Man  from  the  Gorilla  and  the  Chimpanzee  are  not 
so  great  as  those  which  separate  the  Gorilla  from  the 
lower  apes. 

But  in  enunciating  this  important  truth  I  must  guarc 
myself  against  a  form  of  misunderstanding,  which  is  very 
prevalent.  I  find,  in  fact,  that  those  who  endeavour  to 
teach  what  nature  so  clearly  shows  us  in  this  matter,  are 
liable  to  have  their  opinions  misrepresented  and  their 
phraseology  garbled,  until  they  seem  to  say  that  the  struc- 
tural differences  between  man  and  even  the  highest  apes 
are  small  and  insignificant.  Let  me  take  this  opportunity 
then  of  distinctly  asserting,  on  the  contrary,  that  they  are 
great  and  significant ;  that  every  bone  of  a  Gorilla  bears 
marks  by  which  it  might  be  distinguished  from  the  corre- 
sponding bone  of  a  Man ;  and  that,  in  the  present  crea- 
tion, at  any  rate,  no  intermediate  link  bridges  over  the 
gap  between  Homo  and  Troglodytes. 

It  would  be  no  less  wrong  than  absurd  to  deny  the  ex- 
istence of  this  chasm  ;  but  it  is  at  least  equally  wrong  and 
absurd  to  exaggerate  its  magnitude,  and,  resting  on  the 
admitted  fact  of  its  existence,  to  refuse  to  inquire  whether 
it  is  wide  or  narrow.  Remember,  if  you  will,  that  there 


124  THE  RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

is  no  existing  link  between  Man  and  the  Gorilla,  but  do 
not  forget  that  there  is  a  no  less  sharp  line  of  demarca- 
tion, a  no  less  complete  absence  of  any  transitional  form, 
between  the  Gorilla  and  the  Orang,  or  the  Orang  and  the 
Gibbon.  I  say,  not  less  sharp,  though  it  is  somewhat  nar- 
rower. The  structural  differences  between  Man  and  the 
Man-like  apes  certainly  justify  our  regarding  him  as  con- 
stituting a  family  apart  from  them  ;  though,  inasmuch  as 
he  differs  less  from  them  than  they  do  from  other  families 
of  the  same  order,  there  can  be  no  justification  for  placing 
him  in  a  distinct  order. 

And  thus  the  sagacious  foresight  of  the  great  lawgiver 
of  systematic  zoology,  Linnaeus,  becomes  justified,  and  a 
century  of  anatomical  research  brings  us  back  to  his  con- 
clusion, that  man  is  a  member  of  the  same  order  (for  -which 
the  Linnsean  term  PRIMATES  ought  to  be  retained)  as  the 
Apes  and  Lemurs.  This  order  is  now  divisible  into  seven 
families,  of  about  equal  systematic  value :  the  first,  the 
ANTHKOPINI,  contains  Man  alone ;  the  second,  the  CA- 
TARHINI,  embraces  the  old  world  apes ;  the  third,  the 
PLATYRHINI,  all  new  world  apes,  except  the  Marmosets ; 
the  fourth,  the  ARCTOPITHECINI,  contains  the  Marmosets ; 
the  fifth,  the  LEMURINI,  the  Lemurs — from  which  Chei- 
romys  should  probably  be  excluded  to  form  a  sixth  dis- 
tinct family,  the  CHEIROMYINI  ;  while  the  seventh,  the 
GALEOPiTHEcmi,  contains  only  the  flying  Lemur  Galeo- 
pithecus, — a  strange  form  which  almost  touches  on  the 
Bats,  as  the  Cheiromys  puts  on  a  Rodent  clothing,  and 
the  Lemurs  simulate  Insectivora. 

Perhaps  no  order  of  mammals  presents  us  with  so  ex- 
traordinary a  series  of  gradations  as  this — leading  us  in- 
sensibly from  the  crown  and  summit  of  the  animal  crea- 
tion down  to  creatures,  from  which  there  is  but  a  step,  as 
it  seems,  to  the  lowest,  smallest,  and  least  intelligent  o£ 


TO.  THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  125 

the  placental  Mammalia.  It  is  as  if  nature  herself  had 
foreseen  the  arrogance  of  man,  and  with  Roman  severity 
had  provided  that  his  intellect,  by  its  very  triumphs, 
should  call  into  prominence  the  slaves,  admonishing  the 
conqueror  that  he  is  but  dust. 

These  are  the  chief  facts,  this  the  immediate  conclu- 
sion from  them  to  which  I  adverted  in  the  commencement 
of  this  Essay.  The  facts,  I  believe,  cannot  be  disputed ; 
and  if  so,  the  conclusion  appears  to  me  to  be  inevitable. 

But  if  Man  be  separated  by  no  greater  structural  bar- 
rier from  the  brutes  than  they  are  from  one  another — then 
it  seems  to  follow  that  if  any  process  of  physical  causation 
can  be  discovered  by  which  the  genera  and  families  of 
ordinary  animals  have  been  produced,  that  process  of 
causation  is  amply  sufficient  to  account  for  the  origin  of 
Man.  In  other  words,  if  it  could  be  shown  that  the  Mar- 
mosets, for  example,  have  arisen  by  gradual  modification 
of  the  ordinary  Platyrhini,  or  that  both  Marmosets  and 
Platyrhini  are  modified  ramifications  of  a  primitive  stock 
— then,  there  would  be  no  rational  ground  for  doubting 
that  man  might  have  originated,  in  the  one  case,  by  the 
gradual  modification  of  a  man-like  ape  ;  or,  in  the  other 
case,  as  a  ramification  of  the  same  primitive  stock  as  those 
apes. 

At  the  present  moment,  but  one  such  process  of  phys- 
ical causation  has  any  evidence  in  its  favour  ;  or,  in  other 
words,  there  is  but  one  hypothesis  regarding  the  origin  of 
species  of  animals  in  general  which  has  any  scientific  ex- 
istence— that  propounded  by  Mr.  Darwin.  For  Lamarck, 
sagacious  as  many  of  his  views  were,  mingled  them  with 
so  much  that  was  crude  and  even  absurd,  as  to  neutralize 
the  benefit  which  his  originality  might  have  effected,  had 
he  been  a  more  sober  and  cautious  thinker ;  and  though 


126  THE   RELATIONS    OF   MAN 

I  have  heard  of  the  announcement  of  a  formula  touching 
"  the  ordained  continuous  becoming  of  organic  forms,"  it 
is  obvious  that  it  is  the  first  duty  of  a  hypothesis  to  be 
intelligible,  and  that  a  qua-qua-versal  proposition  of  this 
kind,  which  may  be  read  backwards,  or  forwards,  or  side' 
ways,  with  exactly  the  same  amount  of  signification,  does 
not  really  exist,  though  it  may  seem  to  do  so. 

At  the  present  moment,  therefore,  the  question  of  the 
relation  of  man  to  the  lower  animals  resolves  itself,  in  the 
end,  into  the  larger  question  of  the  tenability  or  untena- 
bility  of  Mr.  Darwin's  views.  But  here  we  enter  upon 
difficult  ground,  and  it  behoves  us  to  define  our  exact  po- 
sition with  the  greatest  care. 

It  cannot  be  doubted,  I  think,  that  Mr.  Darwin  has 
satisfactorily  proved  that  what  he  terms  selection,  or  select- 
ive modification,  must  occur,  and  does  occur,  in  nature  ; 
and  he  has  also  proved  to  superfluity  that  such  selection  is 
competent  to  produce  forms  as  distinct,  structurally,  as 
some  genera  even  are.  If  the  animated  world  presented 
us  with  none  but  structural  differences,  I  should  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  Mr.  Darwin  has  demonstrated 
the  existence  of  a  true  physical  cause,  amply  competent  to 
account  for  the  origin  of  living  species,  and  of  man  among 
the  rest. 

But,  in  addition  to  their  structural  distinctions,  the 
species  of  animals  and  plants,  or  at  least  a  great  number 
of  them,  exhibit  physiological  characters — what  are  known 
as  distinct  species,  structurally,  being  for  the  most  part 
either  altogether  incompetent  to  breed  one  with  another  ; 
or  if  they  breed,  the  resulting  mule,  or  hybrid,  is  unable 
to  perpetuate  its  race  with  another  hybrid  of  the  same  kind. 

A  true  physical  cause  is,  however,  admitted  to  be  such 
only  on  one  condition — that  it  shall  account  for  all  the 
phenomena  which  come  within  the  range  of  its  operation. 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  127 

If  it  is  inconsistent  with  any  one  phenomenon,  it  must  be 
rejected  ;  if  it  fails  to  explain  any  one  phenomenon,  it  is 
so  far  weak,  so  far  to  be  suspected  ;  though  it  may  have  a 
perfect  right  to  claim  provisional  acceptance. 

Now,  Mr.  Darwin's  hypothesis  is  not,  so  far  as  I  am 
aware,  inconsistent  with  any  known  biological  fact ;  on 
the  contrary,  if  admitted,  the  facts  of  Development,  of 
Comparative  Anatomy,  of  Geographical  Distribution,  and 
of  Palaeontology,  become  connected  together,  and  exhibit 
a  meaning  such  as  they  never  possessed  before  ;  and  I,  for 
one,  am  fully  convinced  that  if  not  precisely  true,  that  hy- 
pothesis is  as  near  an  approximation  to  the  truth  as,  for 
example,  the  Copernican  hypothesis  was  to  the  true  theory 
of  the  planetary  motions. 

But,  for  all  this,  our  acceptance  of  the  Darwinian  hy- 
pothesis must  be  provisional  so  long  as  one  link  in  the 
chain  of  evidence  is  wanting  ;  and  so  long  as  all  the  ani- 
mals and  plants  certainly  produced  by  selective  breeding 
from  a  common  stock  are  fertile,  and  their  progeny  are 
fertile  with  one  another,  that  link  will  be  wanting.  For, 
so  long,  selective  breeding  will  not  be  proved  to  be  com- 
petent to  do  all  that  is  required  of  it  to  produce  natural 
species. 

I  have  put  this  conclusion  as  strongly  as  possible  be- 
fore the  reader,  because  the  last  position  in  which  I  wish 
to  find  myself  is  that  of  an  advocate  for  Mr.  Darwin's,  or 
any  other  views — if  by  an  advocate  is  meant  one  whose 
business  it  is  to  smooth  over  real  difficulties,  and  to  per- 
suade where  he  cannot  convince. 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Darwin,  however,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  conditions  of  fertility  and  sterility  are  very  ill 
understood,  and  that  every  day's  advance  in  knowledge 
leads  us  to  regard  the  hiatus  in  his  evidence  as  of  less  and 
less  importance,  when  set  against  the  multitude  of  facts 


128  THE  RELATIONS   OF   MAN 

which  harmonize  with,  or  receive  an  explanation  from,  his 
doctrines. 

I  adopt  Mr.  Darwin's  hypothesis,  therefore,  subject  to 
the  production  of  proof  that  physiological  species  may  be 
produced  by  selective  breeding  ;  just  as  a  physical  philoso- 
pher may  accept  the  undulatory  theory  of  light,  subject 
to  the  proof  of  the  existence  of  the  hypothetical  ether  ;  or 
as  the  chemist  adopts  the  atomic  theory,  subject  to  the 
proof  of  the  existence  of  atoms  ;  and  for  exactly  the  same 
reasons,  namely,  that  it  has  an  immense  amount  of  prima 
facie  probability :  that  it  is  the  only  means  at  present 
within  reach  of  reducing  the  chaos  of  observed  facts  to 
order ;  and  lastly,  that  it  is  the  most  powerful  instrument 
of  investigation  which  has  been  presented  to  naturalists 
since  the  invention  of  the  natural  system  of  classification 
and  the  co~amencement  of  the  systematic  study  of  embry- 
ology. 

But  even  leaving  Mr.  Darwin's  views  aside,  the  whole 
analogy  of  natural  operations  furnishes  so  complete  and 
crushing  an  argument  against  the  intervention  of  any  but 
what  are  termed  secondary  causes,  in  the  production  of  all 
the  phenomena  of  the  universe  ;  that,  in  view  of  the  inti- 
mate relations  between  Man  and  the  rest  of  the  living 
world  ;  and  between  the  forces  exerted  by  the  latter  and 
all  other  forces,  I  can  see  no  excuse  for  doubting  that  all 
are  co-ordinated  terms  of  Nature's  great  progression,  from 
the  formless  to  the  formed — from  the  inorganic  to  the  or- 
ganic— from  blind  force  to  conscious  intellect  and  will. 

Science  has  fulfilled  her  function  when  she  has  ascer- 
tained and  enunciated  truth ;  and  were  these  pages  ad- 
dressed to  men  of  science  only,  I  should  now  close  this 
essay,  knowing  that  my  colleagues  have  learned  to  respect 
nothing  but  evidence,  and  to  believe  that  their  highest 


TO   THE   LOWEK   ANIMALS.  129 

duty  lies  in  submitting  to  it,  however  it  may  jar  against 
their  inclinations. 

But  desiring,  as  1  do,  to  reach  the  wider  circle  of  the 
intelligent  public,  it  would  be  unworthy  cowardice  were  I 
to  ignore  the  repugnance  with  which  the  majority  of  my 
readers  are  likely  to  meet  the  conclusions  to  which  the 
most  careful  and  conscientious  study  I  have  been  able  to 
give  to  this  matter,  has  led  me. 

On  all  sides  I  shall  hear  the  cry — "  We  are  men  and 
women,  and  not  a  mere  better  sort  of  apes,  a  little  longer 
in  the  leg,  more  compact  in  the  foot,  and  bigger  in  brain 
than  your  brutal  Chimpanzees  and  Gorillas.  The  power 
of  knowledge — the  conscience  of  good  and  evil — the  pitiful 
tenderness  of  human  affections,  raise  us  out  of  all  real  fel- 
lowship with  the  brutes,  however  closely  they  may  seem 
to  approximate  us." 

To  this  I  can  only  reply  that  the  exclamation  would 
be  most  just  and  would  have  my  own  entire  sympathy,  if 
it  were  only  relevant.  But  it  is  not  I  who  seek  to  base 
Man's  dignity  upon  his  great  toe,  or  insinuate  that  we  are 
lost  if  an  Ape  has  a  hippocampus  minor.  On  the  con- 
trary, I  have  done  my  best  to  sweep  away  this  vanity.  I 
have  endeavoured  to  show  that  no  absolute  structural  line 
of  demarcation,  wider  than  that  between  the  animals 
which  immediately  succeed  us  in  the  scale,  can  be  drawn 
between  the  animal  world  and  ourselves  ;  and  I  may  add 
,the  expression  of  my  belief  that  the  attempt  to  draw  a 
physical  distinction  is  equally  futile,  and  that  even  the 
highest  faculties  of  feeling  and  of  intellect  begin  to  germi- 
nate in  lower  forms  of  life.*  At  the  same  time  no  one  is 

*  It  is  so  rare  a  pleasure  for  me  to  find  Professor  Owen's  opinions  in 

entire  accordance  with  my  own,  that  I  cannot  forbear  from  quoting  a  paragraph 

which  appeared  in  his  Essay  "  On  the  Characters,  &c.  of  the  Class  Mammalia," 

in  the  '  Journal  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Linnean  Society  of  London '  for 

6* 


130  THE  BELATIONS    OF   MAN 

more  strongly  convinced  than  I  am  of  the  vastness  of  the 
gulf  between  civilized  man  and  the  brutes ;  or  is  more 
certain  that  whether  from  them  or  not,  he  is  assuredly 
not  6/'them.  No  one  is  less  disposed  to  think  lightly  of 
the  present  dignity,  or  despairingly  of  the  future  hopes,  of 
the  only  consciously  intelligent  denizen  of  this  world. 

We  are  indeed  told  by  those  who  assume  authority  in 
these  matters,  that  the  two  sets  of  opinions  are  incompati- 
ble, and  that  the  belief  in  the  unity  of  origin  of  man  and 
brutes  involves  the  brutalization  and  degradation  of  the 
former.  But  is  this  really  so  ?  Could  not  a  sensible  child 
confute,  by  obvious  arguments,  the  shallow  rhetoricians 
who  would  force  this  conclusion  upon  us  ?  Is  it,  indeed, 
true,  that  the  Poet,  or  the  Philosopher,  or  the  Artist 
whose  genius  is  the  glory  of  his  age,  is  degraded  from  his 
high  estate  by  the  undoubted  historical  probability,  not  to 
say  certainty,  that  he  is  the  direct  descendant  of  some 
naked  and  bestial  savage,  whose  intelligence  was  just  suffi- 
cient to  make  him  a  little  more  cunning  than  the  Fox, 
and  by  so  much  more  dangerous  than  the  Tiger  ?  Or  is 
he  bound  to  howl  and  grovel  on  all  fours  because  of  the 
wholly  unquestionable  fact,  that  he  was  once  an  egg,  which 

1857,  but  is  unaccountably  omitted  in  the  "  Reade  Lecture  "  delivered  before 
the  University  of  Cambridge  two  years  later,  which  is  otherwise  nearly  a  re- 
print of  the  paper  in  question.  Prof.  Owen  writes : 

"Not  being  able  to  appreciate  or  conceive  of  the  distinction  between  the 
psychical  phenomena  of  a  Chimpanzee  and  of  a  Boschisman  or  of  an  Aztec, 
with  arrested  brain  growth,  as  being  of  a  nature  so  essential  as  to  preclude  a 
comparison  between  them,  or  as  being  other  than  a  difference  of  degree,  I 
cannot  shut  my  eyes  to  the  significance  of  that  all-pervading  similitude  of 
structure — every  tooth,  every  bone,  strictly  homologous — which  makes  the 
determination  of  the  difference  between  Homo  and  Pithecua  the  anatomist's 
difficulty." 

Surely  it  is  a  little  singular,  that  the  '  anatomist,'  who  finds  it  '  difficult ' 
to  '  determine  the  difference '  between  Homo  and  Pithecus,  should  yet  range 
them  on  anatomical  grounds,  in  distinct  sub-classes  ! 


TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS.  131 

no  ordinary  power  of  discrimination  could  distinguish  from 
that  of  a  Dog  ?  Or  is  the  philanthropist  or  the  saint  to 
give  up  his  endeavours  to  lead  a  noble  life,  because  the 
simplest  study  of  man's  nature  reveals,  at  its  foundations, 
all  the  selfish  passions  and  fierce  appetites  of  the  merest 
quadruped  ?  Is  mother-love  vile  because  a  hen  shows  it, 
or  fidelity  base  because  dogs  possess  it  ? 

The  common  sense  of  the  mass  of  mankind  will  answer 
these  questions  without  a  moment's  hesitation.  Healthy 
humanity,  finding  itself  hard  pressed  to  escape  from  real 
sin  and  degradation,  will  leave  the  brooding  over  specula- 
tive pollution  to  the  cynics  and  the  righteous  '  overmuch ' 
who,  disagreeing  in  everything  else,  unite  in  blind  insen- 
sibility to  the  nobleness  of  the  visible  world,  and  in  ina- 
bility to  appreciate  the  grandeur  of  the  place  Man  occu- 
pies therein. 

Kay  more,  thoughtful  men,  once  escaped  from  the 
blinding  influences  of  traditional  prejudice,will  find  in  the 
lowly  stock  whence  man  has  sprung,  the  best  evidence  of 
the  splendour  of  his  capacities ;  and  will  discern  in  his 
long  progress  through  the  Past,  a  reasonable  ground  of 
faith  in  his  attainment  of  a  nobler  Future. 

They  will  remember  that  in  comparing  civilized  man 
with  the  animal  world,  one  is  as  the  Alpine  traveller,  who 
sees  the  mountains  soaring  into  the  sky  and  can  hardly 
discern  where  the  deep  shadowed  crags  and  roseate  peaks 
end,  and  where  the  clouds  of  heaven  begin.  Surely  the 
awe-struck  voyager  may  be  excused  if,  at  first,  he  refuses 
to  believe  the  geologist,  who  tells  him  that  these  glorious 
masses  are,  after  all,  the  hardened  mud  of  primeval  seas, 
or  the  cooled  slag  of  subterranean  furnaces — of  one  sub- 
stance with  the  dullest  clay,  but  raised  by  inward  forces 
to  that  place  of  proud  and  seemingly  inaccessible  glory. 

But  the  geologist  is  right ;  and  due  reflection  on  his 


132     THE   RELATIONS   OF   MAN   TO   THE   LOWER   ANIMALS. 

teachings,  instead  of  diminishing  our  reverence  and  our 
wonder,  adds  all  the  force  of  intellectual  sublimity,  to  the 
mere  aesthetic  intuition  of  the  uninstructed  beholder. 

And  after  passion  and  prejudice  have  died  away,  the 
same  result  will  attend  the  teachings  of  the  naturalist  re- 
specting that  great  Alps  and  Andes  of  the  living  world — 
Man.  Our  reverence  for  the  nobility  of  manhood  will  not 
be  lessened  by  the  knowledge,  that  Man  is,  in  substance 
and  in  structure,  one  with  the  brutes ;  for,  he  alone  pos- 
sesses the  marvellous  endowment  of  intelligible  and  ra- 
tional speech,  whereby,  in  the  secular  period  of  his  exist- 
ence, he  has  slowly  accumulated  and  organized  the  expe- 
rience which  is  almost  wholly  lost  with  the  cessation  of 
every  individual  life  in  other  animals ;  so  that  now  he 
stands  raised  upon  it  as  on  a  mountain  top,  far  above  the 
level  of  his  humble  fellows,  and  transfigured  from  his 
grosser  nature  by  reflecting,  here  and  there,  a  ray  from 
the  infinite  source  of  truth. 


CEREBKAL    STEUCTUBE    OF   MAN   AND   THE   APES.        133 


A  SUCCINCT  HISTORY  OF  THE  CONTROVERSY  RESPECTING  THE 
CEREBRAL  STRUCTURE  OF  MAN  AND  THE  APES. 

UP  to  the  year  1857  all  anatomists  of  authority,  who  had  occu- 
pied themselves  with  the  cerebral  structure  of  the  Apes — Cuvier, 
Tiedemann,  Sandifort,  Vrolik,  Isidore  G.  St.  Hilaire,  Schroeder  van 
der  Kolk,  Gratiolet — were  agreed  that  the  brain  of  the  Ape  possesses 

a  POSTERIOR  LOBE. 

Tiedemann,  in  1825,  figured  and  acknowledged  in  the  text  of 
his  '  Icones,'  the  existence  of  the  POSTERIOR  CORNU  of  the  lateral 
ventricle  in  the  Apes,  not  only  under  the  title  of '  Scrobiculus  parvus 
loco  cornu  posterioris' — a  fact  which  has  been  paraded — but  as 
'  cornu  posterius'  (Icones,  p.  54),  a  circumstance  which  has  been,  as 
sedulously,  kept  in  the  back  ground. 

Cuvier  (Lecons,  T.  iii.  p.  103)  says,  "  the  anterior  or  lateral  ven- 
tricles possess  a  digital  cavity  [posterior  cornu]  only  in  Man  and  the 
Apes Its  presence  depends  on  that  of  the  poste- 
rior lobes." 

Schroeder  van  der  Kolk  and  Vrolik,  and  Gratiolet,  had  also  fig- 
ured and  described  the  posterior  cornu  in  various  Apes.  As  to  the 
HIPPOCAMPUS  MINOR,  Tiedemann  had  erroneously  asserted  its  absence 
in  the  Apes ;  but  Schroeder  van  der  Kolk  and  Vrolik  had  pointed 
out  the  existence  of  what  they  considered  a  rudimentary  one  in  the 
Chimpanzee,  and  Gratiolet  had  expressly  affirmed  its  existence  in 
these  animals.  Such  was  the  state  of  our  information  on  these  sub- 
jects in  the  year  1856. 

In  the  year  1857,  however,  Professor  Owen,  either  in  ignorance  of 
these  well-known  facts  or  else  unjustifiably  suppressing  them,  sub- 
mitted to  the  Linnaean  Society  a  paper  "  On  the  Characters,  Princi- 
ples of  Division,  and  Primary  Groups  of  the  Class  Mammalia,"  which 
was  printed  in  the  Society's  Journal,  and  contains  the  following 
passage : — "  In  Man,  the  brain  presents  an  ascensive  step  in  develop- 
ment, higher  and  more  strongly  marked  than  that  by  which  the  pre- 


134:        HISTORY   OF   THE   CONTROVERSY   RESPECTING   THE 

ceding  sub-class  was  distinguished  from  the  one  below  it.  Not  only 
do  the  cerebral  hemispheres  overlap  the  olfactory  lobes  and  cerebel- 
lum, but  they  extend  in  advance  of  the  one  and  further  back  than 
the  other.  The  posterior  development  is  so  marked,  that  anatomists 
have  assigned  to  that  part  the  character  of  a  third  lobe ;  it  is  peculiar 
to  the  genus  Homo,  and  equally  peculiar  is  tlit,  posterior  horn  of  the  late- 
ral ventricle  and  the  '  hippocampus  minor '  which  characterise  the  hind 
lobe  of  each  hemisphere.'1'' — Journal  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Linncean 
Society,  Vol.  ii.  p.  19. 

As  the  essay  in  which  this  passage  stands  had  no  less  ambitious 
an  aim  than  the  remodelling  of  the  classification  of  the  Mammalia, 
its  author  might  be  supposed  to  have  written  under  a  sense  of  pecu- 
liar responsibility,  and  to  have  tested,  with  especial  care,  the  state- 
ments he  ventured  to  promulgate.  And  even  if  this  be  expecting 
too  much,  hastiness,  or  want  of  opportunity  for  due  deliberation,  can- 
not now  be  pleaded  in  extenuation  of  any  shortcomings ;  for  the 
propositions  cited  were  repeated  two  years  afterwards  in  the  Reade 
Lecture,  delivered  before  so  grave  a  body  as  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, in  1859. 

When  the  assertions,  which  I  have  italicised  in  the  above  extract, 
first  came  under  my  notice,  I  was  not  a  little  astonished  at  so  flat  a 
contradiction  of  the  doctrines  current  among  well-informed  anato- 
mists ;  but,  not  unnaturally  imagining  that  the  deliberate  state- 
ments of  a  responsible  person  must  have  some  foundation  in  fact,  I 
deemed  it  my  duty  to  investigate  the  subject  anew  before  the  time 
at  which  it  would  be  my  business  to  lecture  thereupon  came  round. 
The  result  of  my  inquiries  was  to  prove  that  Mr.  Owen's  three  asser- 
tions, that  "  the  third  lobe,  the  posterior  horn  of  the  lateral  ventri- 
cle, and  the  hippocampus  minor,"  are  "  peculiar  to  the  genus  Homo? 
are  contrary  to  the  plainest  facts.  I  communicated  this  conclusion 
to  the  students  of  my  class  ;  and  then,  having  no  desire  to  embark 
in  a  controversy  which  could  not  redound  to  the  honour  of  British 
science,  whatever  its  issue,  I  turned  to  more  congenial  occupations. 

The  time  speedily  arrived,  however,  when  a  persistence  in  this 
reticence  would  have  involved  me  in  an  unworthy  paltering  with 
truth. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  at  Oxford,  in  1860, 
Professor  Owen  repeated  these  assertions  in  my  presence,  and,  of 
course,  I  immediately  gave  them  a  direct  and  unqualified  contradic- 
tion, pledging  myself  to  justify  that  unusual  procedure  elsewhere. 


CEKEBKAL  STRUCTURE  OF  MAN  AND  THE  APES.    135 

I  redeemed  that  pledge  by  publishing,  in  the  January  number  of  the 
Natural  History  Review  for  1861,  an  article  wherein  the  truth  of  the 
three  following  propositions  was  fully  demonstrated  (I.  c.  p.  71)  : — 

"  1.  That  the  third  lobe  is  neither  peculiar  to,  nor  characteristic 
of,  man,  seeing  that  it  exists  in  all  the  higher  quadrumana." 

"  2.  That  the  posterior  cornu  of  the  lateral  ventricle  is  neither 
peculiar  to,  nor  characteristic  of,  man,  inasmuch  as  it  also  exists  in 
the  higher  quadrumana. 

"  3.  That  the  hippocampus  minor  is  neither  peculiar  to,  nor  char- 
acteristic of,  man,  as  it  is  found  in  certain  of  the  higher  quadru- 
mana." 

Furthermore,  this  paper  contains  the  following  paragraph  (p.  76)  : 

"  And  lastly,  Schroeder  van  der  Kolk  and  Vrolik  (op.  cit.  p.  271), 
though  they  particularly  note  that  '  the  lateral  ventricle  is  distin- 
guished from  that  of  Man  by  the  very  defective  proportions  of  the 
posterior  cornu,  wherein  only  a  stripe  is  visible  as  an  indication  of 
the  hippocampus  minor ; '  yet  the  Figure  4,  in  their  second  Plate, 
shows  that  this  posterior  cornu  is  a  perfectly  distinct  and  unmistake- 
able  structure,  quite  as  large  as  it  often  is  in  Man.  It  is  the  more 
remarkable  that  Professor  Owen  should  have  overlooked  the  explicit 
statement  and  figure  of  these  authors,  as  it  is  quite  obvious,  on  com- 
parison of  the  figures,  that  his  woodcut  of  the  brain  of  a  Chimpanzee 
(1.  c.  p.  19)  is  a  reduced  copy  of  the  second  figure  of  Messrs.  Schroe- 
der van  der  Kolk  and  Vrolik's  first  Plate. 

"  As  M.  Gratiolet  (1.  c.  p.  18),  however,  is  careful  to  remark,  '  un- 
fortunately the  brain  which  they  have  taken  as  a  model  was  greatly 
altered  (profondement  affaisse),  whence  the  general  form  of  the  brain 
is  given  in  these  plates  in  a  manner  which  is  altogether  incorrect.' 
Indeed,  it  is  perfectly  obvious,  from  a  comparison  of  a  section  of  the 
skull  of  the  Chimpanzee  with  these  figures,  that  such  is  the  case ; 
and  it  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  so  inadequate  a  figure  should 
have  been  taken  as  a  typical  representation  of  the  Chimpanzee's 
brain." 

From  this  time  forth,  the  untenability  of  his  position  might  have 
been  as  apparent  to  Professor  Owen  as  it  was  to  every  one  else  ;  but, 
so  far  from  retracting  the  grave  errors  into  which  he  had  fallen, 
Professor  Owen  has  persisted  in  and  reiterated  them  ;  first,  in  a  lec- 
ture delivered  before  the  Royal  Institution  on  the  19th  of  March, 
1861,  which  is  admitted  to  have  been  accurately  reproduced  in  the 
'  A  thensDum '  for  the  23rd  of  the  same  month,  in  a  letter  addressed 


136        HISTORY   OF   THE    CONTROVERSY    RESPECTING   THE 

by  Professor  Owen  to  that  journal  on  the  30th  of  March.  The 
'  Athenaeum '  report  was  accompanied  by  a  diagram  purporting  to 
represent  a  Gorilla's  brain,  but  in  reality  so  extraordinary  a  misrep- 
resentation, that  Professor  Owen  substantially,  though  not  explicitly, 
withdraws  it  in  the  letter  in  question.  In  amending  this  error, 
however,  Professor  Owen  fell  into  another  of  much  graver  import,  as 
his  communication  concludes  with  the  following  paragraph  :  "  For 
the  true  proportion  in  which  the  cerebrum  covers  the  cerebellum  in 
the  highest  Apes,  reference  should  be  made  to  the  figure  of  the  un- 
dissected  brain  of  the  Chimpanzee  in  my  '  Reade's  Lecture  on  the 
Classification,  &c.  of  the  Mammalia,'  p.  25,  fig.  7,  8vo.  1859." 

It  would  not  be  credible,  if  it  were  not  unfortunately  true,  that 
this  figure,  to  which  the  trusting  public  is  referred,  without  a  word 
of  qualification,  "  for  the  true  proportion  in  which  the  cerebrum 
covers  the  cerebellum  in  the  highest  Apes,"  is  exactly  that  unac- 
knowledged copy  of  Schroeder  van  der  Kolk  and  Vrolik's  figure 
whose  utter  inaccuracy  had  been  pointed  out  years  before  by  Gratio- 
let,  and  had  been  brought  to  Professor  Owen's  knowledge  by  myself 
in  the  passage  of  my  article  in  the  '  Natural  History  Review '  above 
quoted. 

I  drew  public  attention  to  this  circumstance  again  in  my  reply  to 
Professor  Owen,  published  in  the  '  Athenaeum '  for  April  13th,  1861 ; 
but  the  exploded  figure  was  reproduced  once  more  by  Professor 
Owen,  without  the  slightest  allusion  to  its  inaccuracy,  in  the  '  An- 
nals of  Natural  History'  for  June,  1861  ! 

This  proved  too  much  for  the  patience  of  the  original  authors  of 
the  figure,  Messrs.  Schroeder  van  der  Kolk  and  Vrolik,  who,  in  a 
note  addressed  to  the  Academy  of  Amsterdam,  of  which  they  were 
members,  declared  themselves  to  be,  though  decided  opponents  of 
all  forms  of  the  doctrine  of  progressive  development,  above  all 
things,  lovers  of  truth :  and  that,  therefore,  at  whatever  risk  of  seem- 
ing to  lend  support  to  views  which  they  disliked,  they  felt  it  their 
duty  to  take  the  first  opportunity  of  publicly  repudiating  Professor 
Owen's  misuse  of  their  authority. 

In  this  note  they  frankly  admitted  the  justice  of  the  criticisms 
of  M.  Gratiolet,  quoted  above,  and  they  illustrated,  by  new  and 
careful  figures,  the  posterior  lobe,  the  posterior  cornu,  and  the  hippo- 
campus minor  of  the  Orang.  Furthermore,  having  demonstrated  the 
parts,  at  one  of  the  sittings  of  the  Academy,  they  add,  "  la  presence 
des  parties  contcst£es  y  a  6t6  universellement  reconnue  par  les  anato- 


CEREBRAL  STRUCTURE  OF  MAX  AND  THE  APES.    137 

mistes  presents  a  la  stance.  La  seul  doute  qui  soit  reste  se  rapporte 

au  pes  Hippocampi  minor A  1'etat  frais  1'indice  du 

petit  pied  d'Hippocampe  etait  plus  prononce  que  maintenant." 

Professor  Owen  repeated  his  erroneous  assertions  at  the  meeting 
of  the  British  Association  in  1861,  and  again,  without  any  obvious 
necessity,  and  without  adducing  a  single  new  fact  or  new  argument, 
or  being  able  in  any  way  to  meet  the  crushing  evidence  from  original 
dissections  of  numerous  Apes'  brains,  which  had  in  the  meanwhile 
been  brought  forward  by  Prof.  Rolleston,*  F.R.S.,  Mr.  Marshall,! 
F.R.S.,  Mr.  Flower,^  Mr.  Turner  §  and  myself,]  revived  the  subject 
at  the  Cambridge  meeting  of  the  same  body  in  1862.  Not  content 
with  the  tolerably  vigorous  repudiation  which  these  unprecedented 
proceedings  met  with  in  Section  D,  Professor  Owen  sanctioned  the 
publication  of  a  version  of  his  own  statements,  accompanied  by  a 
strange  misrepresentation  of  mine  (as  may  be  seen  by  comparison  of 
the  '  Times '  Report  of  the  discussion),  in  the  '  Medical  Times '  for 
October  llth,  1862.  I  subjoin  the  conclusion  of  my  reply  in  the 
same  journal  for  October  25th. 

"  If  this  were  a  question  of  opinion,  or  a  question  of  interpreta- 
tion of  parts  or  of  terms, — were  it  even  a  question  of  observation  in 
which  the  testimony  of  my  own  senses  alone  was  pitted  against 
that  of  another  person,  I  should  adopt  a  very  different  tone  in  dis- 
cussing this  matter.  I  should,  in  all  humility,  admit  the  likelihood 
of  having  myself  erred  in  judgment,  failed  in  knowledge,  or  been 
blinded  by  prejudice. 

"  But  no  one  pretends  now  that  the  controversy  is  one  of  terms 
or  of  opinions.  Novel  and  devoid  of  authority  as  some  of  Professor 
Owen's  proposed  definitions  may  have  been,  they  might  be  accepted 
without  changing  the  great  features  of  the  case.  Hence,  though 
special  investigations  into  these  matters  have  been  undertaken 
during  the  last  two  years  by  Dr.  Allen  Thomson,  by  Dr.  Rolleston, 

*  On  the  Affinities  of  the  Brain  of  the  Orang.  Nat.  Hist.  Review,  April, 
1861. 

f  On  the  Brain  of  a  young  Chimpanzee.     Ibid.  July,  1861. 

|  On  the  Posterior  lobes  of  the  Cerebrum  of  the  Quadrumana.  Philoso- 
phical Transactions,  1862. 

§  On  the  anatomical  Relations  of  the  Surfaces  of  the  Tentorium  to  the 
Cerebrum  and  Cerebellum  in  Man  and  the  lower  Mammala.  Proceedings  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  Edinburgh,  March,  1862. 

|  On  the  Brain  of  Atelcs.     Proceedings  of  Zoological  Society,  1861. 


138         CEREBRAL    STRUCTURE   OF  MAN   AND   THE   APES. 

by  Mr.  Marshall,  and  by  Mr.  Flower,  all,  as  you  are  aware,  anato- 
mists of  repute  in  this  country,  and  by  Professors  Schroeder  van  der 
Kolk,  and  Vrolik  (whom  Professor  Owen  incautiously  tried  to  press 
into  his  own  service)  on  the  Continent,  all  these  able  and  conscien- 
tious observers  have  with  one  accord  testified  to  the  accuracy  of  my 
statements,  and  to  the  utter  baselessness  of  the  assertions  of  Professor 
Owen.  Even  the  venerable  Iludolph  Wagner,  whom  no  man  will 
accuse  of  progressional  proclivities,  has  raised  his  voice  on  the  same 
side ;  while  not  a  single  anatomist,  great  or  small,  has  supported 
Professor  Owen. 

"  Now,  I  do  not  mean  to  suggest  that  scientific  differences  should 
be  settled  by  universal  suffrage,  but  I  do  conceive  that  solid  proofs 
must  be  met  by  something  more  than  empty  and  unsupported  asser- 
tions. Yet  during  the  two  years  through  which  this  preposterous 
controversy  has  dragged  its  weary  length,  Professor  Owen  has  not 
ventured  to  bring  forward  a  single  preparation  in  support  of  his 
often-repeated  assertions. 

"  The  case  stands  thus,  therefore  : — Not  only  are  the  statements 
made  by  me  in  consonance  with  the  doctrines  of  the  best  older  au- 
thorities, and  with  those  of  all  recent  investigators,  but  I  am  quite 
ready  to  demonstrate  them  on  the  first  monkey  that  comes  to  hand  ; 
while  Professor  Owen's  assertions  are  not  only  in  diametrical  oppo- 
sition to  both  old  and  new  authorities,  but  he  has  not  produced, 
and,  I  will  add,  cannot  produce,  a  single  preparation  which  justifies 
them." 

I  now  leave  this  subject,  for  the  present. — For  the  credit  of  my 
calling  I  should  be  glad  to  be,  hereafter,  for  ever  silent  upon  it. 
But,  unfortunately,  this  is  a  matter  upon  which,  after  all  that  has 
occurred,  no  mistake  or  confusion  of  terms  is  possible — and  in 
affirming  that  the  posterior  lobe,  the  posterior  cornu,  and  the  hippo- 
campus minor  exist  in  certain  Apes,  I  am  stating  either  that  which 
is  true,  or  that  which  I  must  know  to  be  false.  The  question  has 
thus  become  one  of  personal  veracity.  For  myself,  I  will  accept  no 
other  issue  than  this,  grave  as  it  is,  to  the  present  controversy. 


m. 

OK  SOME  FOSSIL  KEMADsTS  OF  MAK. 


I  HATE  endeavoured  to  show  in  the  preceding  Essay, 
that  the  ANTHKOPINI,  or  Man  Family,  form  a  very  well 
defined  group  of  the  Primates,  between  which  and  the 
immediately  following  Family,  the  CATAKHINI,  there  is,  in 
the  existing  world,  the  same  entire  absence  of  any  transi- 
tional form  or  connecting  link,  as  between  the  CATARHINI 
and  PLATYRHINI. 

It  is  a  commonly  received  doctrine,  however,  that  the 
structural  intervals  between  the  various  existing  modifica- 
tions of  organic  beings  may  be  diminished,  or  even  obliter- 
ated, if  we  take  into  account  the  long  and  varied  succes- 
sion of  animals  and  plants  which  have  preceded  those  now 
living  and  which  are  known  to  us  only  by  their  fossilized 
remains.  How  far  this  doctrine  is  well  based,  how  far,  on 
the  other  hand,  as  our  knowledge  at  present  stands,  it  is 
an  overstatement  of  the  real  facts  of  the  case,  and  an  ex- 
aggeration of  the  conclusions  fairly  dcducible  from  them, 
are  points  of  grave  importance,  but  into  the  discussion  of 
which  I  do  not,  at  present,  propose  to  enter.  It  is  enough 
that  such  a  view  of  the  relations  of  extinct  to  living 
beings  has  been  propounded,  to  lead  us  to  inquire,  with 
anxiety,  how  far  the  recent  discoveries  of  human  remains 
in  a  fossil  state  bear  out,  or  oppose,  that  view. 


140 


FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF   MAN. 


I  shall  confine  myself,  in  discussing  this  question,  to 
those  fragmentary  Human  skulls  from  the  caves  of  En- 
gis  in  the  valley  of  the  Meuse,  in  Belgium,  and  of  the 
Neanderthal  near  Diisseldorf.  the  geological  relations  of 
which  have  been  examined  with  BO  much  care  by  Sir 
Charles  Lyell ;  upon  whose  high  authority  I  shall  take  it 
for  granted,  that  the  Engis  skull  belonged  to  a  contempo- 
rary of  the  Mammoth  (Elephas  primigenius)  and  of  the 
woolly  Rhinoceros  (Rliinocerus  tichorhinus),  with  the 
bones  of  which  it  was  found  associated  ;  and  that  the 
Neanderthal  skull  is  of  great,  though  uncertain,  antiquity. 
Whatever  be  the  geological  age  of  the  latter  skull,  I  con- 


FIG.  23. — The  skull  from  the  cave  of  Engis — viecreo.  from  the  ri^ht  side.  One 
half  the  size  of  nature,  a  glabella,  h  occipital  protuberance,  (e  to 
b  glabello-occipital  line),  c  auditory  foramen. 


FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF  MAN.  141 

ceive  it  is  quite  safe  (on  the  ordinary  principles  of  paleon- 
tological  reasoning)  to  assume  that  the  former  takes  us  to, 
at  least,  the  further  side  of  the  vague  biological  limit 
which  separates  the  present  geological  epoch  from  that 
which  immediately  preceded  it.  And  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  physical  geography  of  Europe  has  changed 
wonderfully  since  the  bones  of  Men  and  Mammoths,  Hy- 
aenas and  Rhinoceroses  were  washed  pell-mell  into  the 
cave  of  Engis. 

The  skull  from  the  cave  of  Engis  was  originally  dis- 
covered by  Professor  Schmerling,  and  was  described  by 
him,  together  with  other  human  remains  disinterred  at 
the  same  time,  in  his  valuable  work,  "  Recherches  sur  les 
ossemens  fossiles  decouverts  dans  les  cavernes  de  la  Prov- 
ince de  Liege,"  published  in  1833,  (p.  59,  et  seq.)  from 
which  the  following  paragraphs  are  extracted,  the  precise 
expressions  of  the  author  being,  as  far  as  possible,  pre- 
served. 

"  In  the  first  place,  I  must  remark  that  these  human 
remains,  which  are  in  my  possession,  are  characterized, 
like  the  thousands  of  bones  which  I  have  lately  been  dis- 
interring, by  the  extent  of  the  decomposition  which  they 
have  undergone,  which  is  precisely  the  same  as  that  of 
the  extinct  species  :  all,  with  a  few  exceptions,  are  broken ; 
some  few  are  rounded,  as  is  frequently  found  to  be  the 
case  in  fossil  remains  of  other  species.  The  fractures  are 
vertical  or  oblique  ;  none  of  them  are  eroded  ;  their  colour 
does  not  differ  from  that  of  other  fossil  bones,  and  varies 
from  whitish  yellow  to  blackish.  All  are  lighter  than 
recent  bones,  with  the  exception  of  those  which  have  a 
calcareous  incrustation,  and  the  cavities  of  which  are  filled 
with  such  matter. 

The  cranium  which  I  have  caused  to  be  figured,  Plate 


142  FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF   MAN. 

I,  figs.  1,  2,  is  that  of  an  old  person.  The  sutures  are  be- 
ginning to  be  effaced  :  all  the  facial  bones  are  wanting, 
and  of  the  temporal  bones  only  a  fragment  of  that  of  the 
right  side  is  preserved. 

The  face  and  the  base  of  the  cranium  had  been  de- 
tached before  the  skull  was  deposited  in  the  cave,  for  we 
were  unable  to  find  those  parts,  though  the  whole  cavern 
was  regularly  searched.  The  cranium  was  met  with  at  a 
depth  of  a  metre  and  a  half  [five  feet  nearly]  hidden  under 
an  osseous  breccia,  composed  of  the  remains  of  small  ani- 
mals, and  containing  one  rhinoceros  tusk,  with  several 
teeth  of  horses  and  of  ruminants.  This  breccia,  which 
has  been  spoken  of  above,  (p.  31)  was  a  metre  [3J  feet 
about]  wide,  and  rose  to  the  height  of  a  metre  and  a  half 
above  the  floor  of  the  cavern,  to  the  walls  of  which  it  ad- 
hered strongly. 

The  earth  which  contained  this  human  skull  exhibited 
no  trace  of  disturbance  :  teeth  of  rhinoceros,  horse,  hyse- 
na,  and  bear,  surrounded  it  on  all  sides. 

The  famous  Blnmenbach*  has  directed  attention  to 
the  differences  presented  by  the  form  and  the  dimensions 
of  human  crania  of  different  races.  This  important  work 
would  have  assisted  us  greatly,  if  the  face,  a  part  essential 
for  the  determination  of  race,  with  more  or  less  accuracy, 
had  not  been  wanting  in  our  fossil  cranium. 

"We  are  convinced  that  even  if  the  skull  had  been  com- 
plete, it  would  not  have  been  possible  to  pronounce,  with 
certainty,  upon  a  single  specimen ;  for  individual  varia- 
tions are  so  numerous  in  the  crania  of  one  and  the  same 
race,  that  one  cannot,  without  laying  oneself  open  to  large 
chances  of  error,  draw  any  inference  from  a  single  frag- 

*  Decas  Collectionis  suse  craniorum  diversarum  gentium  illustrate,     Gpfc- 
tingae,  1790-1820. 


FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN.  143 

ment  of  a  cranium  to  the  general  form  of  the  head  to 
which  it  belonged. 

Nevertheless,  in  order  to  neglect  no  point  respecting 
the  form  of  this  fossil  skull,  we  may  observe  that,  from 
the  first,  the  elongated  and  narrow  form  of  the  forehead 
attracted  our  attention. 

In  fact,  the  slight  elevation  of  the  frontal,  its  narrow- 
ness, and  the  form  of  the  orbit,  approximate  it  more  nearly 
to  the  cranium  of  an  Ethiopian  than  to  that  of  an  Euro- 
pean :  the  elongated  form  and  the  produced  occiput  are 
also  characters  which  we  believe  to  be  observable  in  our 
fossil  cranium  ;  but  to  remove  all  doubt  upon  that  subject 
I  have  caused  the  contours  of  the  cranium  of  an  European 
and  of  an  Ethiopian  to  be  drawn  and  the  foreheads  repre- 
sented. Plate  II,  figs.  1  &  2,  and,  in  the  same  plate,  figs. 
3  &  4,  will  render  the  differences  easily  distinguishable  ; 
and  a  single  glance  at  the  figures,  will  be  more  instructive 
than  a  long  and  wearisome  description. 

At  whatever  conclusion  we  may  arrive  us  to  the  origin 
of  the  man  from  whence  this  fossil  skull  proceeded,  we  may 
express  an  opinion  without  exposing  ourselves  to  a  fruit- 
less controversy.  Each  may  adopt  the  hypothesis  which 
seems  to  him  most  probable  :  for  my  own  part,  I  hold  it 
to  be  demonstrated  that  this  cranium  has  belonged  to  a 
person  of  limited  intellectual  faculties,  and  we  conclude 
thence  that  it  belonged  to  a  man  of  a  low  degree  of  civil- 
ization :  a  deduction  which  is  borne  out  by  contrasting  the 
capacity  of  the  frontal  with  that  of  the  occipital  region. 

Another  cranium  of  a  young  individual  was  discovered 
in  the  floor  of  the  cavern  beside  the  tooth  of  an  elephant ; 
the  skull  was  entire  when  found,  but  the  moment  it  was 
lifted  it  fell  into  pieces,  which  I  have  not,  as  yet,  been 
able  to  put  together  again.  But  I  have  represented  the 
bones  of  the  upper  jaw,  Plate  I,  fig.  5.  The  state  of  the 


14:4:  FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF   MAN. 

alveoli  and  the  teeth,  shows  that  the  molars  had  not  yet 
pierced  the  gum.  Detached  milk  molars  and  some  frag- 
ments of  a  human  skull,  proceed  from  this  same  place. 
The  figure  3,  represents  a  human  superior  incisor  tooth, 
the  size  of  which  is  truly  remarkable.* 

Figure  4  is  a  fragment  of  a  superior  maxillary  bone, 
the  molar  teeth  of  which  are  worn  down  to  the  roots. 

I  possess  two  vertebrae,  a  first  and  last  dorsal. 

A  clavicle  of  the  left  side  (see  Plate  III,  fig.  1) ;  al- 
though it  belonged  to  a  young  individual,  this  bone  shows 
that  he  must  have  been  of  great  stature,  f 

Two  fragments  of  the  radius,  badly  preserved,  do  not 
indicate  that  the  height  of  the  man,  to  whom  they  be- 
longed, exceeded  five  feet  and  a  half. 

As  to  the  remains  of  the  upper  extremities,  those  which 
are  in  my  possession,  consist  merely  of  a  fragment  of  an 
ulna  and  of  a  radius  (Plate  III,  fig.  5  and  6). 

Figure  2,  Plate  IY,  represents  a  metacarpal  bone, 
contained  in  the  breccia,  of  which  we  have  spoken ;  it 
was  found  in  the  lower  part  above  the  cranium :  add  to 
this  some  metacarpal  bones,  found  at  very  different  dis- 
tances, half-a-dozen  metatarsals,  three  phalanges  of  the 
hand,  and  one  of  the  foot. 

This  is  a  brief  enumeration  of  the  remains  of  human 
bones  collected  in  the  cavern  of  Engis,  which  has  pre- 
served for  us  the  remains  of  three  individuals,  surrounded 
by  those  of  the  Elephant,  of  the  Rhinoceros,  and  of  Gar- 
ni vora  of  species  unknown  in  the  present  creation." 

*  In  a  subsequent  passage,  Schmerling  remarks  upon  the  occurrence  of  an 
incisor  tooth  '  of  enormous  size '  from  the  caverns  of  Engihoul.  The  tooth 
figured  is  somewhat  long,  but  its  dimensions  do  not  appear  to  me  to  be  other- 
wise remarkable. 

f  The  figure  of  this  clavicle  measures  5  inches  from  end  to  end  in  a 
straight  line — so  that  the  bone  is  rather  a  small  than  a  large  one. 


FOSSIL   RhMAINS   OF  MAN.  145 

From  the  cave  of  Engihoul,  opposite  that  Oi.  Engis,  on 
the  right  bank  of  the  Meuse,  Schmerling  obtained  the  re- 
mains of  three  other  individuals  of  Man,  among  which 
were  only  two  fragments  of  parietal  bones,  but  many 
bones  of  the  extremities.  In  one  case,  a  broken  fragment 
of  an  ulna  was  soldered  to  a  like  fragment  of  a  radius  by 
stalagmite,  a  condition  frequently  observed  among  the 
bones  of  the  Cave  Bear  (  Ursus  spelceus),  found  in  the  Bel- 
gian caverns. 

It  was  in  the  cavern  of  Engis  that  Professor  Schmer- 
ling found,  incrusted  with  stalagmite  and  joined  to  a 
stone,  the  pointed  bone  implement,  which  he  has  figured 
in  lig.  7  of  his  Plate  XXXVI,  and  worked  flints  were 
found  by  him  in  all  those  Belgian  caves,  which  contained 
an  abundance  of  fossil  bones. 

A  short  letter  from  M.  Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire,  published 
in  the  Comptes  Rendus  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of 
Paris,  for  July  2nd,  1838,  speaks  of  a  visit  (and  apparently 
a  very  hasty  one)  paid  to  the  collection  of  Professor 
'  Schermidt '  (which  is  presumably  a  misprint  for  Schmer- 
ling) at  Liege.  The  writer  briefly  criticises  the  drawings 
which  illustrate  Schmerling's  work,  and  affirms  that  the 
"  human  cranium  is  a  little  longer  than  it  is  represented  " 
in  Schmerling's  figure.  The  only  other  remark  worth 
quoting  is  this  : — "  The  aspect  of  the  human  bones  differs 
little  from  that  of  the  cave  bones,  with  which  we  are 
familiar,  and  of  which  there  is  a  considerable  collection  in 
the  same  place.  With  respect  to  their  special  forms,  com- 
pared with  those  of  the  varieties  of  recent  human  crania, 
few  certain  conclusions  can  be  put  forward  ;  for  much 
greater  differences  exist  between  the  different  specimens 
of  well-characterized  varieties,  than  between  the  fossil 
cranium  of  Liege  and  that  of  one  of  those  varieties  se- 
lected as  a  term  of  comparison." 
7 


146  FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF   MAN. 

Geoffroy  St.  Hilaire's  remarks  are,  it  will  be  observed, 
little  but  an  echo  of  the  philosophic  doubts  of  the  describer 
and  discoverer  of  the  remains.  As  to  the  critique  upon 
Schmerling's  figures,  I  find  that  the  side  view  given  by 
the  latter  is  really  about  T30ths  of  an  inch  shorter  than  the 
original,  and  that  the  front  view  is  diminished  to  about 
the  same  extent.  Otherwise  the  representation  is  not,  in 
any  way,  inaccurate,  but  corresponds  very  well  with  the 
cast  which  is  in  my  possession. 

A  piece  of  the  occipital  bone,  which  Schmerling  seems 
to  have  missed,  has  since  been  fitted  on  to  the  rest  of  the 
cranium  by  an  accomplished  anatomist,  Dr.  Spring  of 
Liege,  under  whose  direction  an  excellent  plaster  cast  was 
made  for  Sir  Charles  Lyell.  It  is  upon  and  from  a  dupli- 
cate of  that  cast  that  my  own  observations  and  the  accom- 
panying figures,  the  outlines  of  which  are  copied  from  the 
very  accurate  Camera  lucida  drawings,  by  my  friend  Mr. 
Busk,  reduced  to  one-half  of  the  natural  size,  are  made. 

As  Professor  Schmerling  observes,  the  base  of  the 
skull  is  destroyed,  and  the  facial  bones  are  entirely  ab- 
sent ;  but  the  roof  of  the  cranium,  consisting  of  the  front- 
al, parietal,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  occipital  bones, 
as  far  as  the  middle  of  the  occipital  foramen,  is  entire  or 
nearly  so.  The  left  temporal  bone  is  wanting.  Of  the 
right  temporal,  the  parts  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  the  auditory  foramen,  the  mastoid  process,  and  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  squamous  element  of  the  temporal 
are  well  preserved  (Fig  23). 

The  lines  of  fracture  which  remain  between  the  coad- 
justed  pieces  of  the  skull,  and  are  faithfully  displayed  in 
Schmerling's  figure,  are  readily  traceable  in  the  cast. 
The  sutures  are  also  discernible,  but  the  complex  disposi- 
tion of  their  serrations,  shown  in  the  figure,  is  not  obvious 
in  the  cast.  Though  the  ridges  which  give  attachment  to 


FOSSIL   EEMAINS   OF   MAN. 


147 


Fio.  24. — The  Engis  skull  viewed  from  above  (A)  and  in  front  (B). 


148  FOSSIL   EEMAIXS   OF   MAN. 

muscles  are  not  excessively  prominent,  they  are  well 
marked,  and  taken  together  with  the  apparently  well  de- 
veloped frontal  sinuses,  and  the  condition  of  the  sutures, 
leave  no  doubt  on  my  mind  that  the  skull  is  that  of  an 
adult,  if  not  middle-aged  man. 

The  extreme  length  of  the  skull  is  7.7  inches.  Its  ex- 
treme breadth,  which  corresponds  very  nearly  with  the 
interval  between  the  parietal  protuberances,  is  not  more 
than  5.4  inches.  The  proportion  of  the  length  to  the 
breadth  is  therefore  very  nearly  as  100  to  70.  If  a  line 
be  drawn  from  the  point  at  which  the  brow  curves  in 
towards  the  root  of  the  nose,  and  which  is  called  the  '  gla- 
bella '  (a),  (fig.  23),  to  the  occipital  protuberance  (5),  and 
the  distance  to  the  highest  point  of  the  arch  of  the  skull 
be  measured  perpendicularly  from  this  line,  it  will  be 
found  to  be  4.75  inches.  Viewed  from  above,  fig.  24  A, 
the  forehead  presents  an  evenly  rounded  curve,  and  passes 
into  the  contour  of  the  sides  and  back  of  the  skull,  which 
describes  a  tolerably  regular  elliptical  curve. 

The  front  view  (fig.  24  B)  shows  that  the  roof  of  the 
skull  was  very  regularly  and  elegantly  arched  in  the 
transverse  direction,  and  that  the  transverse  diameter  was 
a  little  less  below  the  parietal  protuberances,  than  above 
them.  The  forehead  cannot  be  called  narrow  in  relation 
to  the  rest  of  the  skull,  nor  can  it  be  called  a  retreating 
forehead  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  antero-posterior  contour  of 
the  skull  is  well  arched,  so  that  the  distance  along  that 
contour,  from  the  nasal  depression  to  the  occipital  protu- 
berance, measures  about  13.75  inches.  The  transverse  arc 
of  the  skull,  measured  from  one  auditory  foramen  to  the 
other,  across  the  middle  of  the  sagittal  suture,  is  about  13 
inches.  The  sagittal  suture  itself  is  5.5  inches  long. 

The  supraciliary  prominences  or  brow-ridges  (on  each 
side  of  a.  fig.  23)  are  well,  but  not  excessively,  developed, 


FOSSIL   EEMAINS   OF   MAN.  14:9 

and  are  separated  by  a  median  depression.  Their  princi- 
pal elevation  is  disposed  so  obliquely  that  I  judge  them 
to  be  due  to  large  frontal  sinuses. 

If  a  line  joining  the  glabella  and  the  occipital  protu- 
berance (#,  J,  fig.  23)  be  made  horizontal,  no  part  of  the 
occipital  region  projects  more  than  y'jth  of  an  inch  behind 
the  posterior  extremity  of  that  line,  and  the  upper  edge 
of  the  auditory  foramen  (c)  is  almost  in  contact  with  a  line 
drawn  parallel  with  this  upon  the  outer  surface  of  the 
skull. 

A  transverse  line  drawn  from  one  auditory  foramen  to 
the  other  traverses,  as  usual,  the  forepart  of  the  occipital 
foramen.  The  capacity  of  the  interior  of  this  fragmentary 
skull  has  not  been  ascertained. 

The  history  of  the  Human  remains  from  the  cavern  in 
the  Neanderthal  may  best  be  given  in  the  words  of  their 
original  describer,  Dr.  Schaaffhausen,*  as  translated  by 
Mr.  Busk. 

"  In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1857,  a  human  skeleton 
was  discovered  in  a  limestone  cave  in  the  Neanderthal, 
near  Hochdal,  between  Diisseldorf  and  Elberfeld.  Of 
this,  however,  I  was  unable  to  procure  more  than  a  plaster 
cast  of  the  cranium,  taken  at  Elberfeld,  from  which  I 
drew  up  an  account  of  its  remarkable  conformation, 
which  was,  in  the  first  instance,  read  on  the  4th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1857,  at  the  meeting  of  the  Lower  Rhine  Medical 
and  Natural  History  Society,  at  Bonn.f  Subsequently 

*  ON  TIIE  CRANIA  OP  THE  MOST  ANCIENT  RACES  OP  MAN.  By  Professor 
D.  Schaaffhausen,  of  Bonn.  (From  Muller'a  Archiv.,  1858,  pp.  453.)  With 
Remarks,  and  original  Figures,  taken  from  a  Cast  of  the  Neanderthal  Cranium. 
By  George  Busk,  F.R.S.,  &c.  Natural  History  Review,  April,  1861. 

f  Verhandl.  d.  Naturhist.  Vereins  der  prcusa.  Rheinlande  und  Westpha- 
lens.,  xiv.  Bonn,  1857. 


150  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN. 

Dr.  Fuhlrott,  to  whom  science  is  indebted  for  the  preser- 
vation of  these  bones,  which  were  not  at  first  regarded  as 
human,  and  into  whose  possession  they  afterwards  came, 
brought  the  cranium  from  Elberfeld  to  Bonn,  and  en- 
trusted it  to  me  for  a  more  accurate  anatomical  examina- 
tion. At  the  General  Meeting  of  the  Natural  History 
Society  of  Prussian  Rhineland  and  "Westphalia,  at  Bonn, 
on  the  2nd  of  June,  1857,*  Dr.  Fuhlrott  himself  gave  a 
full  account  of  the  locality  and  of  the  circumstances  under 
which  the  discovery  was  made.  He  was  of  opinion  that 
the  bones  might  be  regarded  as  fossil ;  and  in  coming  to 
this  conclusion,  he  laid  especial  stress  upon  the  existence 
of  dendritic  deposits,  with  which  their  surface  was  cov- 
ered, and  which  were  first  noticed  upon  them  by  Professor 
Mayer.  To  this  communication  I  appended  a  brief  report 
on  the  results  of  my  anatomical  examination  of  the  bones. 
The  conclusions  at  which  I  arrived  were  : — 1st.  That  the 
extraordinary  form  of  the  skull  was  due  to  a  natural  con- 
formation hitherto  not  known  to  exist,  even  in  the  most 
barbarous  races.  2nd.  That  these  remarkable  human  re- 
mains belonged  to  a  period  antecedent  to  the  time  of  the 
Celts  and  Germans,  and  were  in  all  probability  derived 
from  one  of  the  wild  races  of  North-western  Europe, 
spoken  of  by  Latin  writers  ;  and  which  were  encountered 
as  autochthones  by  the  German  immigrants.  And  3rdly. 
That  it  was  beyond  doubt  that  these  human  relics  were 
traceable  to  a  period  at  which  the  latest  animals  of  the 
diluvium  still  existed ;  but  that  no  proof  of  this  assump- 
tion, nor  consequently  of  their  so-termed  fossil  condition, 
was  afforded  by  the  circumstances  under  which  the  bones 
were  discovered. 

As  Dr.  Fuhlrott  has  not  yet  published  his  description 
of  these  circumstances,  I  borrow  the  following  account  of 

*  Ib.  Corrcspondcnzblatt.    No.  2. 


FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF   MAN.  151 

them  from  one  of  his  letters.  "  A  small  cave  or  grotto, 
high  enough  to  admit  a  man,  and  about  15  feet  deep  from 
the  entrance,  which  is  T  or  8  feet  wide,  exists  in  the  south- 
ern wall  of  the  gorge  of  the  Neanderthal,  as  it  is  termed, 
at  a  distance  of  about  10  feet  from  the  Dussel,  and  about 
60  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  valley.  In  its  earlier  and 
uninjured  condition,  this  cavern  opened  upon  a  narrow 
plateau  lying  in  front  of  it,  and  from  which  the  rocky 
wall  descended  almost  perpendicularly  into  the  river.  It 
could  be  reached,  though  with  difficulty,  from  above. 
The  uneven  floor  was  covered  to  a  thickness  of  4  or  5  feet 
with  a  deposit  of  mud,  sparingly  intermixed  with  rounded 
fragments  of  chert.  In  the  removing  of  this  deposit,  the 
bones  were  discovered.  The  skull  was  first  noticed,  placed 
nearest  to  the  entrance  of  the  cavern  ;  and  further  in,  the 
other  bones,  lying  in  the  same  horizontal  plane.  Of  this 
I  was  assured  in  the  most  positive  terms,  by  two  labourers 
who  were  employed  to  clear  out  the  grotto,  and  who  were 
questioned  by  me  on  the  spot.  At  first  no  idea  was  enter- 
tained of  the  bones  being  human  ;  and  it  was  not  till  sev- 
eral weeks  after  their  discovery  that  they  were  recognised 
as  such  by  me,  and  placed  in  security.  But,  as  the  im- 
portance of  the  discovery  was  not  at  the  time  perceived, 
the  labourers  were  very  careless  in  the  collecting,  and 
secured  chiefly  only  the  larger  bones  ;  and  to  this  circum- 
stance it  may  be  attributed  that  fragments  merely  of  the 
probably  perfect  skeleton  came  into  my  possession." 

"  My  anatomical  examination  of  these  bones  afforded 
the  following  results  : — 

The  cranium  is  of  unusual  size,  and  of  a  long-elliptical 
form.  A  most  remarkable  peculiarity  is  at  once  obvious 
in  the  extraordinary  development  of  the  frontal  sinuses, 
owing  to  which  the  superciliary  ridges,  which  coalesce 
completely  in  the  middle,  are  rendered  so  prominent,  that 


152  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF  MAN. 

the  frontal  bone  exhibits  a  considerable  hollow  or  depres- 
sion above  or  rather  behind  them,  whilst  a  deep  depres- 
sion is  also  formed  in  the  situation  of  the  root  of  the  nose. 
The  forehead  is  narrow  and  low,  though  the  middle  and. 
hinder  portions  of  the  cranial  arch  are  well  developed. 
Unfortunately,  the  fragment  of  the  skull  that  has  been 
preserved  consists  only  of  the  portion  situated  above  the 
roof  of  the  orbits  and  the  superior  occipital  ridges,  which 
are  greatly  developed,  and  almost  conjoined  so  as  to  form 
a  horizontal  eminence.  It  includes  almost  the  whole  of 
the  frontal  bone,  both  parietals,  a  small  part  of  the  squa- 
mous  and  the  upper-third  of  the  occipital.  The  recently 
fractured  surfaces  show  that  the  skull  was  broken  at  the 
time  of  its  disinterment.  The  cavity  holds  16,876  grains 
of  water,  whence  its  cubical  contents  may  be  estimated  at 
57.64  inches,  or  1033.24  cubic  centimetres.  In  making 
this  estimation,  the  water  is  supposed  to  stand  on  a  level 
with  the  orbital  plate  of  the  frontal,  with  the  deepest 
notch  in  the  squamous  margin  of  the  parietal,  and  with 
the  superior  semicircular  ridges  of  the  occipital.  Esti- 
mated in  dried  millet-seed,  the  contents  equalled  31 
ounces,  Prussian  Apothecaries'  weight.  The  semicircular 
line  indicating  the  upper  boundary  of  the  attachment  of 
the  temporal  muscle,  though  not  very  strongly  marked, 
ascends  nevertheless  to  more  than  half  the  height  of  the 
parietal  bone.  On  the  right  superciliary  ridge  is  observa- 
ble an  oblique  furrow  or  depression,  indicative  of  an  in- 
jury received  during  life.*  The  coronal  and  sagittal  su- 
tures are  on  the  exterior  nearly  closed,  and  on  the  inside 
so  completely  ossified  as  to  have  left  no  traces  whatever, 
whilst  the  larnbdoidal  remains  quite  open.  The  depres- 
sions for  the  Pacchionian  glands  are  deep  and  numerous  ; 

*  This,  Mr.  Busk  has  pointed  out,  is  probably  the  notch  for  the  frontal 
nerve. 


FOSSIL    REMAINS    OF   MAN.  153 

and  there  is  an  unusually  deep  vascular  groove  immediately 
behind  the  coronal  suture,  which,  as  it  terminates  in  a 
foramen,  no  doubt  transmitted  a  vena  emissaria.  The 
course  of  the  frontal  suture  is  indicated  externally  by  a 
slight  ridge  ;  and  where  it  joins  the  coronal,  this  ridgo 
rises  into  a  small  protuberance.  The  course  of  the  sagittal 
suture  is  grooved,  and  above  the  angle  of  the  occipital 
bone  the  parietals  are  depressed. 

mm* 

The  length  of  the  skull  from  the 

nasal  process  of  the  frontal 

over  the  vertex  to  the  supe- 
rior semicircular  lines  of  the 

occipital  measures     .     .     .     .303  (300)  =  12-0". 
Circumference  over  the  orbital 

ridges  and  the  superior  semi- 
circular lines  of  the  occipital .  590  (590)=23'37"  or  23". 
Width  of  the  frontal  from  the 

middle  of  the  temporal  line 

on  one  side  to  the  same  point 

on  the  opposite 104(114)=    4-1"—  4-5". 

Length  of  the  frontal  from  the 

nasal   process  to  the   coronal 

suture 133(125)=    5-25"—  5". 

Extreme  width   of    the   frontal 

sinuses    . 25  (23)  =  1-0"   —  0'9". 

Vertical    height    above    a    line 

joining  the  deepest  notches  in 

the  squamous  border  of  the 

parietals 70  =  2'75." 

"Width  of  hinder  part  of  skull 

from  one  parietal  protuberance 

to  the  other 133  (150)  =  5-4"    -5-9". 

*  The  numbers  in  brackets  are  those  which  I  should  assign  to  the  differ- 
ent measures,  as  taken  from  the  plaster  cast. — G.  B. 

7* 


154  'FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN. 

Distance  from  the  upper  angle 
of  the  occipital  to  the  supe- 
rior semicircular  lines  ...  51  (60)  =  1'9" —  2'4". 

Thickness  of  the  bone  at  the 
parietal  protuberance  ...  8. 

at  the  angle  of  the  occipital       9. 

at  the  superior  semicircular 

line  of  the  occipital  ....  10  =  0'3". 

Besides  the  cranium,  the  following  bones  have  been 
secured : — 

1.  Both  thigh-bones,  perfect.     These,  like  the   skull, 
and  all  the  other  bones,  are  characterized  by  their  unusual 
thickness,  and  the  great  development  of  all  the  elevations 
and  depressions  for  the  attachment  of  muscles.     In  the 
Anatomical  Museum  at  Bonn,  under  the  designation  of 
"  Giant's-bones,"  are  some  recent  thigh-bones,  with  which 
in  thickness  the  foregoing  pretty  nearly  correspond,  al- 
though they  are  shorter. 

Giant's  bones.  Fossil  bones, 

mm.  mm. 

Length 542  =  21-4"  . . . 438  =  17-4". 

Diameter  of  head  of  femur.  54=  2-14"...  53=  2-0". 
"  of  lower  articular 

end,  from  one  condyle  to 

the  other 89=  3-5"  ...  87=  3-4". 

Diameter  of  femur  in  the 

middle 33=    1-2"    ...    30=    1-1". 

2.  A  perfect  right  humerus,  whose  size  shows  that  it 
belongs  to  the  thigh-bones. 

mm. 

Length 312  =  12-3". 

Thickness  in  the  middle  .     .       26  =    1-0" 
Diameter  of  head  49=    1'9". 


FOSSIL   EEMAINS    OF   MAN.  155 

Also  a  perfect  right  radius  of  corresponding  dimen- 
sions, and  the  upper-third  of  a  right  ulna  corresponding  to 
the  humerus  and  radius. 

3.  A  left  humerus,  of  which  the  upper-third  is  want- 
ing, and  which  is  so  much  slenderer  than  the  right  as  ap- 
parently to  belong  to  a  distinct  individual ;  a  left  ulna, 
which,  though  complete,  is  pathologically  deformed,  the 
coronoid  process  being  so  much  enlarged  by  bony  growth, 
that  flexure  of  the  elbow  beyond  a  right  angle  must  have 
been  impossible  ;  the  anterior  fossa  of  the  humerus  for  the 
reception  of  the  coronoid  process  being  also  filled  up  with 
a  similar  bony  growth.     At  the  same  time,  the  olecranon 
is  curved  strongly  downwards.     As  the  bone  presents  no 
sign  of  rachitic  degeneration,  it  may  be  supposed  that  an 
injury  sustained  during  life  was  the  cause  of  the  anchylo- 
sis.    When  the  left  ulna  is  compared  with  the  right  ra- 
dius, it  might  at  first  sight  be  concluded  that  the  bones 
respectively  belonged  to  different  individuals,  the  ulna 
being  more  than  half  an  inch  too  short  for  articulation 
with  a  corresponding  radius.     But  it  is  clear  that  this 
shortening,  as  well  as  the  attenuation  of  the  left  humerus, 
are  both  consequent  upon  the  pathological  condition  above 
described. 

4.  A  left  ilium,  almost  perfect,  and  belonging  to  the 
femur;   a  fragment   of  the   right   scapula;  the   anterior 
extremity  of  a  rib  of  the  right  side  ;  and  the  same  part  of 
a  rib  of  the  left  side  ;  the  hinder  part  of  a  rib  of  the  right 
side  ;  and,  lastly,  two  hinder  portions  and  one  middle  por- 
tion of  ribs,  which,  from  their  unusually  rounded  shape, 
and  abrupt  curvature,  more  resemble  the  ribs  of  a  carnivo- 
rous animal  than  those  of  a  man.     Dr.  II.  v.  Meyer,  how- 
ever, to  whose  judgment  I  defer,  will  not  venture  to  de- 
clare them  to  be  ribs  of  any  animal ;  and  it  only  remains 
to  suppose  that  this  abnormal  condition  has  arisen  from 


156  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN. 

an  unusually  powerful  development  of  the  thoracic 
muscles. 

The  bones  adhere  strongly  to  the  tongue,  although,  as 
proved  by  the  use  of  hydrochloric  acid,  the  greater  part 
of  the  cartilage  is  still  retained  in  them,  which  appears, 
however,  to  have  undergone  that  transformation  into  gela- 
tine which  has  been  observed  by  v.  Bibra  in  fossil  bones. 
The  surface  of  all  the  bones  is  in  many  spots  covered  with 
minute  black  specks,  which,  more  especially  under  a  lens, 
are  seen  to  be  formed  of  very  delicate  dendrites.  These 
deposits,  which  were  first  observed  on  the  bones  by  Dr. 
Mayer,  are  most  distinct  on  the  inner  surface  of  the  cra- 
nial bones.  They  consist  of  a  ferruginous  compound,  and, 
from  their  black  colour,  may  be  supposed  to  contain  man- 
ganese. Similar  dendritic  formations  also  occur,  not  un- 
frequently,  on  laminated  rocks,  and  are  usually  found  in 
minute  fissures  and  cracks.  At  the  meeting  of  the  Lower 
Rhine  Society  at  Bonn,  on  the  1st  April,  1857,  Prof. 
Mayer  stated  that  he  had  noticed  in  the  museum  of  Pop- 
pelsdorf  similar  dendritic  crystallizations  on  several  fossil 
bones  of  animals,  and  particularly  on  those  of  Ursus  spe- 
Iceus,  but  still  more  abundantly  and  beautifully  displayed 
on  the  fossil  bones  and  teeth  of  Equus  adamiticus,  Ce- 
phas primigenius,  &c.,  from  the  caves  of  Bolve  and  Sund- 
wig.  Faint  indications  of  similar  dendrites  were  visible 
in  a  Roman  skull  from  Siegburg ;  whilst  other  ancient 
skulls,  which  had  lain  for  centuries  in  the  earth,  presented 
no  trace  of  them.*  I  am  indebted  to  II.  v.  Meyer  for  the 
following  remarks  on  this  subject : — 

"  The  incipient  formation  of  dendritic  deposits,  which 
were  formerly  regarded  as  a  sign  of  a  truly  fossil  condi- 
tion, is  interesting.  It  has  even  been  supposed  that  in 
diluvial  deposits  the  presence  of  dendrites  might  be  re- 

*  Verb,  dcs  Naturhist.  Vereins  in  Bonn,  xiv.  1857. 


FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF   MAN.  157 

garded  as  affording  a  certain  mark  of  distinction  between 
bones  mixed  with  the  diluvium  at  a  somewhat  later  period 
and  the  true  diluvial  relics,  to  which  alone  it  was  supposed 
that  these  deposits  were  confined.  But  I  have  long  been 
convinced  that  neither  can  the  absence  of  d^ndrites  be 
regarded  as  indicative  of  recent  age,  nor  their  presence  as 
sufficient  to  establish  the  great  antiquity  of  the  objects 
upon  which  they  occur.  I  have  myself  noticed  upon 
paper,  which  could  scarcely  be  more  than  a  year  old,  den- 
dritic deposits,  which  could  not  be  distinguished  from 
those  on  fossil  bones.  Thus  I  possess  a  dog's  skull  from 
the  Roman  colony  of  the  neighbouring  Heddersheim, 
Ciistrum  Hadrianum,  which  is  in  no  way  distinguishable 
from  the  fossil  bones  from  the  Frankish  caves  ;  it  presents 
the  same  colour,  and  adheres  to  the  tongue  just  as  they 
do  ;  so  that  this  character  also,  which,  at  a  former  meeting 
of  German  naturalists  at  Bonn,  gave  rise  to  amusing 
scenes  between  Buckland  and  Schmerling,  is  no  longer  of 
any  value.  In  disputed  cases,  therefore,  the  condition  of 
the  bone  can  scarcely  afford  the  means  for  determining 
with  certainty  whether  it  be  fossil,  that  is  to  say,  whether 
it  belong  to  geological  antiquity  or  to  the  historical 
period." 

As  we  cannot  now  look  upon  the  primitive  world  as 
representing  a  wholly  different  condition  of  things,  from 
which  no  transition  exists  to  the  organic  life  of  the  present 
time,  the  designation  of  fossil  as  applied  to  a  bone,  has  no 
longer  the  sense  it  conveyed  in  the  time  of  Cuvier.  Suffi- 
cient grounds  exist  for  the  assumption  that  man  coexisted 
with  the  animals  found  in  the  diluvium ;  and  many  a 
barbarous  race  may,  before  all  historical  time,  have  disap- 
peared together  with  the  animals  of  the  ancient  world, 
whilst  the  races  whose  organization  is  improved  have  con- 
tinued the  genus.  The  bones  which  form  the  subject  of 


158  FOSSIL   EEMAINS   OF   MAN. 

this  paper  present  characters  -which,  although  not  decisive 
as  regards  a  geological  epoch,  are,  nevertheless,  such  as 
indicate  a  very  high  antiquity.  It  may  also  be  remarked 
that,  common  as  is  the  occurrence  of  diluvial  animal  bones 
in  the  muddy  deposits  of  caverns,  such  remains  have  not 
hitherto  been  met  with  in  the  caves  of  the  Neanderthal ; 
and  that  the  bones,  which  were  covered  by  a  deposit  of 
mud  not  more  than  four  or  five  feet  thick,  and  without  any 
protective  covering  of  stalagmite,  have  retained  the  great- 
est part  of  their  organic  substance. 

These  circumstances  might  be  adduced  against  the 
probability  of  a  geological  antiquity.  Nor  should  we  be 
justified  in  regarding  the  cranial  conformation  as  perhaps 
representing  the  most  savage  primitive  type  of  the  human 
race,  since  crania  exist  among  living  savages,  which, 
though  not  exhibiting  such  a  remarkable  conformation  of 
the  forehead,  which  gives  the  skull  somewhat  the  aspect 
of  that  of  the  large  apes,  still  in  other  respects,  as  for  in- 
stance in  the  greater  depth  of  the  temporal  fossae,  the 
crest-like,  prominent  temporal  ridges,  and  a  generally  less 
capacious  cranial  cavity,  exhibit  an  equally  low  stage  of 
development.  There  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that  the 
deep  frontal  hollow  is  due  to  any  artificial  flattening,  such 
as  is  practised  in  various  modes  by  barbarous  nations  in 
the  Old  and  New  World.  The  skull  is  quite  symmetrical, 
and  shows  no  indication  of  counter-pressure  at  the  occiput, 
whilst,  according  to  Morton,  in  the  Flat-heads  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, the  frontal  and  parietal  bones  are  always  unsym- 
metrical.  Its  conformation  exhibits  the  sparing  develop- 
ment of  the  anterior  part  of  the  head  which  has  been  so 
often  observed  in  very  ancient  crania,  and  affords  one  of 
the  most  striking  proofs  of  the  influence  of  culture  and 
civilization  on  the  form  of  the  human  skull." 

In  a  subsequent  passage,  Dr.  Schaaffhausen  remarks  : 


FOSSIL   EEMAINS   OF  MAN.  159 

"  There  is  no  reason  whatever  for  regarding  the  un- 
usual development  of  the  frontal  sinuses  in  the  remarkable 
skull  from  the  Neanderthal  as  an  individual  or  pathologi- 
cal deformity  ;  it  is  unquestionably  a  typical  race-charac- 
ter, and  is  physiologically  connected  with  the  uncommon 
thickness  of  the  other  bones  of  the  skeleton,  which  exceeds 
by  about  one-half  the  usual  proportions.  This  expansion 
of  the  frontal  sinuses,  which  are  appendages  of  the  air- 
passages,  also  indicates  an  unusual  force  and  power  of  en- 
durance in  the  movements  of  the  body,  as  may  be  con- 
cluded from  the  size  of  all  the  ridges  and  processes  for  the 
attachment  of  the  muscles  or  bones.  That  this  conclusion 
may  be  drawn  from  the  existence  of  large  frontal  sinuses, 
and  a  prominence  of  the  lower  frontal  region,  is  confirmed 
in  many  ways  by  other  observations.  By  the  same  char- 
acters, according  to  Pallas,  the  wild  horse  is  distinguished 
from  the  domesticated,  and,  according  to  Cuvier,  the  fossil 
cave-bear  from  every  recent  species  of  bear,  whilst,  accord- 
ing to  Koulin,  the  pig,  which  has  become  wild  in  America, 
and  regained  a  resemblance  to  the  wild  boar,  is  thus  dis- 
tinguished from  the  same  animal  in  the  domesticated 
state,  as  is  the  chamois  from  the  goat ;  and,  lastly,  the 
bull-dog,  which  is  characterised  by  its  large  bones  and 
strongly-developed  muscles  from  every  other  kind  of  dog. 
The  estimation  of  the  facial  angle,  the  determination  of 
which,  according  to  Professor  Owen,  is  also  difficult  in  the 
great  apes,  owing  to  the  very  prominent  supra-orbital 
ridges,  in  the  present  case  is  rendered  still  more  difficult 
from  the  absence  both  of  the  auditory  opening  and  of  the 
nasal  spine.  But  if  the  proper  horizontal  position  of  the 
skull  be  taken  from  the  remaining  portions  of  the  orbital 
plates,  and  the  ascending  line  made  to  touch  the  surface 
of  the  frontal  bone  behind  the  prominent  snpra-orbital 


160  FOSSIL  REMAINS   OF   MAN. 

ridges,  the  facial  angle  is  not  found  to  exceed  56°.*  Un- 
fortunately, no  portions  of  the  facial  bones,  whose  confor- 
mation is  so  decisive  as  regards  the  form  and  expression 
of  the  head,  have  been  preserved.  The  cranial  capacity, 
compared  with  the  uncommon  strength  of  the  corporeal 
frame,  would  seem  to  indicate  a  small  cerebral  develop- 
ment. The  skull,  as  it  is,  holds  about  31  ounces  of  millet- 
seed  ;  and  as,  from  the  proportionate  size  of  the  wanting 
bones,  the  whole  cranial  cavity  should  have  about  6 
ounces  more  added,  the  contents,  were  it  perfect,  may  be 
taken  at  37  ounces.  Tiedemann  assigns,  as  the  cranial 
contents  in  the  Negro,  40,  38,  and  35  ounces.  The  cra- 
nium holds  rather  more  than  36  ounces  of  water,  which 
corresponds  to  a  capacity  of  1033*24:  cubic  centimetres. 
Huschke  estimates  the  cranial  contents  of  a  Negress  at 
1127  cubic  centimetres ;  of  an  old  Negro  at  1146  cubic 
centimetres.  The  capacity  of  the  Malay  skulls,  estimated 
by  water,  equalled  36,  33  ounces,  whilst  in  the  diminutive 
Hindoos  it  falls  to  as  little  as  27  ounces." 

After  comparing  the  Neanderthal  cranium  with  many 
others,  ancient  and  modern,  Professor  Schaaff  hausen  con- 
cludes thus : — 

"  But  the  human  bones  and  cranium  from  the  Nean- 
derthal exceed  all  the  rest  in  those  peculiarities  of  confor- 
mation which  lead  to  the  conclusion  of  their  belonging  to 
a  barbarous  and  savage  race.  Whether  the  cavern  in 
which  they  were  found,  unaccompanied  with  any  trace  of 
human  art,  were  the  place  of  their  interment,  or  whether, 
like  the  bones  of  extinct  animals  elsewhere,  they  had  been 
washed  into  it,  they  may  still  be  regarded  as  the  most  an- 
cient memorial  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  Europe." 

Mr.  Busk,  the  translator  of  Dr.  Schaaffhausen's  paper, 

*  Estimating  the  facial  angle  in  the  way  suggested,  on  the  cast  I  should 
place  it  at  64°  to  67°.— G.  B. 


162  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF  MAN. 

has  enabled  us  to  form  a  very  vivid  conception  of  the  de- 
graded character  of  the  Neanderthal  skull,  by  placing 
side  by  side  with  its  outline,  that  of  the  skull  of  a  Chim- 
panzee, drawn  to  the  same  absolute  size. 

Some  time  after  the  publication  of  the  translation  of 
Professor  Schaaff  hausen's  Memoir,  I  was  led  to  study  the 
cast  of  the  Neanderthal  cranium  with  more  attention  than 
I  had  previously  bestowed  upon  it,  in  consequence  of 
wishing  to  supply  Sir  Charles  Lyell  with  a  diagram,  ex- 
hibiting the  special  peculiarities  of  this  skull,  as  compared 
with  other  human  skulls.  In  order  to  do  this  it  was 
necessary  to  identify,  with  precision,  those  points  in  the 
skulls  compared  which  corresponded  anatomically.  Of 
these  points,  the  glabella  was  obvious  enough  ;  but  when 
I  had  distinguished  another,  defined  by  the  occipital  pro- 
tuberance and  superior  semicircular  line,  and  had  placed 
the  outline  of  the  Neanderthal  skull  against  that  of  the 
Engis  skull,  in  such  a  position  that  the  glabella  and  oc- 
cipital protuberance  of  both  were  intersected  by  the  same 
straight  line,  the  difference  was  so  vast  and  the  flattening 
of  the  Neanderthal  skull  so  prodigious  (compare  Figs.  23 
and  25  A),  that  I  at  first  imagined  I  must  have  fallen  into 
some  error.  And  I  was  the  more  inclined  to  suspect  this, 
as,  in  ordinary  human  skulls,  the  occipital  protuberance 
and  superior  semicircular  curved  line  on  the  exterior  of 
the  occiput  correspond  pretty  closely  with  the  '  lateral 
sinuses '  and  the  line  of  attachment  of  the  tentorium  inter- 
nally. But  on  the  tentorium  rests,  as  I  have  said  in  the 
preceding  Essay,  the  posterior  lobe  of  the  brain  ;  and 
hence,  the  occipital  protuberance,  and  the  curved  line  in 
question,  indicate,  approximately,  the  lower  limits  of  that 
lobe.  Was  it  possible  for  a  human  being  to  have  the  brain 
thus  flattened  and  depressed ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  had 
the  muscular  ridges  shifted  their  position  ?  In  order  to 


FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN. 


163 


solve  these  doubts,  and  to  decide  the  question  whether  the 
great  supraciliary  projections  did,  or  did  not,  arise  from 
the  development  of  the  frontal  sinuses,  I  requested  Sir 
Charles  Lyell  to  be  so  good  as  to  obtain  for  me  from  Dr. 
Fuhlrott,  the  possessor  of  the  skull,  answers  to  certain 
queries,  and  if  possible  a  cast,  or  at  any  rate  drawings,  or 
photographs,  of  the  interior  of  the  skull. 

Dr.  Fuhlrott  replied,  with  a  courtesy  and  readiness  for 


FIG.  20. — Drawings  from  Dr.  Fuhlrott's  photographs  of  part3  of  the  inte- 
rior of  the  Neanderthal  cranium.  A.  view  of  the  under  and  inner  surface  of 
the  frontal  region,  showing  the  inferior  apertures  of  the  frontal  sinuses  (a). 
B.  corresponding  view  of  the  occipital  region  of  the  skull,  showing  the  im- 
pressions of  the  lateral  sinuses  (oa). 


16-i  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN. 

which  I  am  infinitely  indebted  to  him,  to  my  inquiries, 
and  furthermore  sent  three  excellent  photographs.  One 
of  these  gives  a  side  view  of  the  skull,  and  from  it  Fig.  25 
A.  has  been  shaded.  The  second  (Fig.  26  A.)  exhibits 
the  wide  openings  of  the  frontal  sinuses  upon  the  inferior 
surface  of  the  frontal  part  of  the  skull,  into  which,  Dr. 
Fuhlrott  writes,  "  a  probe  may  be  introduced  to  the  depth 
of  an  inch,"  and  demonstrates  the  great  extension  of  the 
thickened  supraciliary  ridges  beyond  the  cerebral  cavity. 
The  third,  lastly,  (Fig.  26  B.)  exhibits  the  edge  and  the 
interior  of  the  posterior,  or  occipital,  part  of  the  skull,  and 
shows  very  clearly  the  two  depressions  for  the  lateral  si- 
nuses, sweeping  inwards  towards  the  middle  line  of  the  roof 
of  the  skull,  to  form  the  longitudinal  sinus.  It  was  clear, 
therefore,  that  I  had  not  erred  in  my  interpretation,  and 
that  the  posterior  lobe  of  the  brain  of  the  Neanderthal 
man  must  have  been  as  much  flattened  as  I  suspected  it 
to  be. 

In  truth,  the  Neanderthal  cranium  has  most  extraordi- 
nary characters.  It  has  an  extreme  length  of  8  inches, 
while  its  breath  is  only  5 '75  inches,  or,  in  other  words,  its 
length  is  to  its  breadth  as  100  :  72.  It  is  exceedingly  de- 
pressed, measuring  only  about  3 '4  inches  from  the  gla- 
bello-occipital  line  to  the  vertex.  The  longitudinal  arc, 
measured  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  Engis  skull,  is  12 
inches ;  the  transverse  arc  cannot  be  exactly  ascertained, 
in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  the  temporal  bones,  but 
was  probably  about  the  same,  and  certainly  exceeded  10^ 
inches.  The  horizontal  circumference  is  23  inches.  But 
this  great  circumference  arises  largely  from  the  vast  devel- 
opment of  the  supraciliary  ridges,  though  the  perimeter 
of  the  brain  case  itself  is  not  small.  The  large  supraciliary 
ridges  give  the  forehead  a  far  more  retreating  appearance 
than  its  internal  contour  would  bear  out. 


FOSSIL    REMAINS    OF   MAN.  165 

To  an  anatomical  eye  the  posterior  part  of  the  skull  is 
even  more  striking  than  the  anterior.  The  occipital  pro- 
tuberance occupies  the  extreme  posterior  end  of  the  skull, 
when  the  glabello-occipital  line  is  made  horizontal,  and  so 
far  from  any  part  of  the  occipital  region  extending  beyond 
it,  this  region  of  the  skull  slopes  obliquely  upward  and 
forward,  so  that  the  lambdoidal  suture  is  situated  well 
upon  the  upper  surface  of  the  cranium.  At  the  same  time, 
notwithstanding  the  great  length  of  the  skull,  the  sagittal 
suture  is  remarkably  short  (4£  inches),  and  the  squarnosal 
suture  is  very  straight. 

In  reply  to  my  questions  Dr.  Fuhlrott  writes  that  the 
occipital  bone  "  is  in  a  state  of  perfect  preservation  as  far 
as  the  upper  semicircular  line,  which  is  a  very  strong 
ridge,  linear  at  its  extremities,  but  enlarging  towards  the 
middle,  wrhere  it  forms  two  ridges  (bourrelets),  united  by 
a  linear  continuation,  which  is  slightly  depressed  in  the 
middle." 

"  Below  the  left  ridge  the  bone  exhibits  an  obliquely 
inclined  surface,  six  lines  (French)  long,  and  twelve  lines 
wide." 

This  last  must  be  the  surface,  the  contour  of  which  is 
shown  in  Fig.  25  A,  below  5.  It  is  particularly  interest- 
ing, as  it  suggests  that,  notwithstanding  the  flattened  con- 
dition of  the  occiput,  the  posterior  cerebral  lobes  must 
have  projected  considerably  beyond  the  cerebellum,  and 
as  it  constitutes  one  among  several  points  of  similarity  be- 
tween the  Neanderthal  cranium  and  certain  Australian 
skulls. 

Such  are  the  two  best  known  forms  of  human  cranium, 
which  have  been  found  in  what  may  be  fairly  termed  a 
fossil  state.  Can  either  be  shown  to  fill  up  or  diminish,  to 
any  appreciable  extent,  the  structural  interval  which  exists 


166  FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF  MAN. 

between  Man  and  the  man-like  apes  ?  Or,  on  the  other 
hand,  does  neither  depart  more  widely  from  the  average 
structure  of  the  human  cranium,  than  normally  formed 
skulls  of  men  are  known  to  do  at  the  present  day  ? 

It  is  impossible  to  form  any  opinion  on  these  questions, 
without  some  preliminary  acquaintance  with  the  range  of 
variation  exhibited  by  human  structure  in  general — a  sub- 
ject which  has  been  but  imperfectly  studied,  while  even 
of  what  is  known,  my  limits  will  necessarily  allow  me  to 
give  only  a  very  imperfect  sketch. 

The  student  of  anatomy  is  perfectly  well  aware  that 
there  is  not  a  single  organ  of  the  human  body  the  struc- 
ture of  which  does  not  vary,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  in 
different  individuals.  The  skeleton  varies  in  the  propor- 
tions, and  even  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  connexions,  of  its 
constituent  bones.  The  muscles  which  move  the  bones 
vary  largely  in  their  attachments.  The  varieties  in  the 
mode  of  distribution  of  the  arteries  are  carefully  classified, 
on  account  of  the  practical  importance  of  a  knowledge  of 
their  shiftings  to  the  surgeon.  The  characters  of  the  brain 
vary  immensely,  nothing  being  less  constant  than  the  form 
and  size  of  the  cerebral  hemispheres,  and  the  richness  of 
the  convolutions  upon  their  surface,  while  the  most  change- 
able structures  of  all  in  the  human  brain,  are  exactly  those 
on  which  the  unwise  attempt  has  been  made  to  base  the 
distinctive  characters  of  humanity,  viz.  the  posterior  cornu 
of  the  lateral  ventricle,  the  hippocampus  minor,  and  the 
degree  of  projection  of  the  posterior  lobe  beyond  the  cere- 
bellum. Finally,  as  all  the  world  knows,  the  hair  and 
skin  of  human  beings  may  present  the  most  extraordinary 
diversities  in  colour  and  in  texture. 

So  far  as  our  present  knowledge  goes,  the  majority  of 
the  structural  varieties  to  which  allusion  is  here  made,  are 
individual.  The  ape-like  arrangement  of  certain  muscles 


FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAST.  167 

which  is  occasionally  met  with*  in  the  white  races  of  man- 
kind, is  not  known  to  be  more  common  among  Negroes  or 
Australians  :  nor  because  the  brain  of  the  Hottentot  Ve- 
nus was  found  to  be  smoother,  to  have  its  convolutions 
more  symmetrically  disposed,  and  to  be,  so  far,  more  ape- 
like than  that  of  ordinary  Europeans,  are  we  justified  in 
concluding  a  like  condition  of  the  brain  to  prevail  univer- 
sally among  the  lower  races  of  mankind,  however  probable 
that  conclusion  may  be. 

We  are,  in  fact,  sadly  wanting  in  information  respect- 
ing the  disposition  of  the  soft  and  destructible  organs  of 
every  Race  of  Mankind  but  our  own ;  and  even  of  the 
skeleton,  our  Museums  are  lamentably  deficient  in  every 
part  but  the  cranium.  Skulls  enough  there  are,  and  since 
the  time  when  Blumenbach  and  Camper  first  called  atten- 
tion to  the  marked  and  singular  differences  which  they 
exhibit,  skull  collecting  and  skull  measuring  has  been  a 
zealously  pursued  branch  of  Natural  History,  and  the  re- 
sults obtained  have  been  arranged  and  classified  by  various 
writers,  among  whom  the  late  active  and  able  Retzius 
must  always  be  the  first  named. 

Human  skulls  have  been  found  to  differ  from  one  an- 
other, not  merely  in  their  absolute  size  and  in  the  absolute 
capacity  of  the  brain  case,  but  in  the  proportions  which 
the  diameters  of  the  latter  bear  to  one  another ;  in  the  rel- 
ative size  of  the  bones  of  the  face  (and  more  particularly 
of  the  jaws  and  teeth)  as  compared  with  those  of  the  skull ; 
in  the  degree  to  which  the  upper  jaw  (which  is  of  course 
followed  by  the  lower)  is  thrown  backwards  and  down- 
wards under  the  forepart  of  the  brain  case,  or  forwards 
and  upwards  in  front  of  and  beyond  it.  They  differ  fur- 
ther in  the  relations  of  the  transverse  diameter  of  the  face, 

*  See  an  excellent  Essay  by  Mr.  Church  on  the  M yology  of  the  Orang,  in 
the  Natural  History  Review,  for  1861. 


168  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN. 


FIG.  27. — Side  and  front  views  of  the  round  and  orthognathous  skull  of  & 
Calmuck  after  Von  Baer.     One-third  the  natural  size. 


FOSSIL  REMAINS  OF  MAN.  169 

taken  through  the  cheek  bones,  to  the  transverse  diameter 
of  the  skull ;  in  the  more  rounded  or  more  gable-like  form 
of  the  roof  of  the  skull,  and  in  the  degree  to  which  the 
hinder  part  of  the  skull  is  flattened  or  projects  beyond  the 
ridge,  into  and  below  which,  the  muscles  of  the  neck  are 
inserted. 

In  some  skulls  the  brain  case  may  be  said  to  be 
1  round,'  the  extreme  length  not  exceeding  the  extreme 
breadth  by  a  greater  proportion  than  100  to  80,  while  the 
difference  may  be  much  less.*  Men  possessing  such  skulls 
were  termed  by  Retzius  '  l>r  achy  cephalic?  and  the  skull 
of  a  Calmuck,  of  which  a  front  and  side  view  (reduced 
outline  copies  of  which  are  given  in  figure  27)  are  de- 
picted by  Yon  Baer  in  his  excellent  "  Crania  selecta," 
affords  a  very  admirable  example  of  that  kind  of  skull. 
Other  skulls,  such  as  that  of  a  ISTegro  copied  in  fig.  28 
from  Mr.  Busk's  '  Crania  typica,'  have  a  very  different, 
greatly  elongated  form,  and  may  be  termed  '  oblong?  In 
this  skull  the  extreme  length  is  to  the  extreme  breadth  as 
100  to  not  more  than  67,  and  the  transverse  diameter  of 
the  human  skull  may  fall  below  even  this  proportion. 
People  having  such  skulls  were  called  byRetzius  '  dolicho- 
cc-phalic? 

The  most  cursory  glance  at  the  side  views  of  these  two 
skulls  will  suffice  to  prove  that  they  differ,  in  another  re- 
spect, to  a  very  striking  extent.  The  profile  of  the  face 
of  the  Calmuck  is  almost  vertical,  the  facial  bones  being 
thrown  downwards  and  under  the  fore  part  of  the  skull. 
The  profile  of  the  face  of  the  Negro,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
singularly  inclined,  the  front  part  of  the  jaws  projecting 
far  forward  beyond  the  level  of  the  fore  part  of  the  skull. 
In  the  former  case  the  skull  is  said  to  be  *  orthognathous ' 

*  In  no  normal  human  skull  does  the  breadth  of  the  brain  case  exceed  ita 

length. 

8 


170  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN. 

or  straight-jawed ;  in  the  latter,  it  is  called  i prognaiJwusJ 


Fio.  28. — Oblong  and  prognathous  skull  of  a  Negro  ;  side  and  front  views 
One-third  of  the  natural  size. 


FOSSIL   RLMAINS   OF   MAN.  171 

a  term  which  has  been  rendered,  with  more  force  than 
elegance,  by  the  Saxon  equivalent, — '  snouty.' 

Various  methods  have  been  devised  in  order  to  express 
with  some  accuracy  the  degree  of  prognathism  or  ortho- 
gnathism  of  any  given  skull ;  most  of  these  methods  being 
essentially  modifications  of  that  devised  by  Peter  Camper, 
in  order  to  attain  what  he  called  the  '  facial  angle.' 

But  a  little  consideration  will  show  that  any  *  facial 
angle '  that  has  been  devised,  can  be  competent  to  express 
the  structural  modifications  involved  in  prognathism  and 
orthognathism,  only  in  a  rough  and  general  sort  of  way. 
For  the  lines,  the  intersection  of  which  forms  the  facial 
angle,  are  drawn  through  points  of  the  skull,  the  position 
of  each  of  which  is  modified  by  a  number  of  circum- 
stances, so  that  the  angle  obtained  is  a  complex  resultant 
of  all  these  circumstances,  and  is  not  the  expression  of  any 
one  definite  organic  relation  of  the  parts  of  the  skull. 

I  have  arrived  at  the  conviction  that  no  comparison 
of  crania  is  worth  very  much,  that  is  not  founded  upon 
the  establishment  of  a  relatively  fixed  base  line,  to  which 
the  measurements,  in  all  cases,  must  be  referred.  Nor  do 
I  think  it  is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  decide  what  that 
base  line  should  be.  The  parts  of  the  skull,  like  those  of 
the  rest  of  the  animal  framework,  are  developed  in  suc- 
cession :  the  base  of  the  skull  is  formed  before  its  sides 
and  roof ;  it  is  converted  into  cartilage  earlier  and  more 
completely  than  the  sides  and  roof:  and  the  cartilaginous 
base  ossifies,  and  becomes  soldered  into  one  piece  long 
before  the  roof.  I  conceive  then  that  the  base  of  the  skull 
may  be  demonstrated  developmentally  to  be  its  relatively 
fixed  part,  the  roof  and  sides  being  relatively  moveable. 

The  same  truth  is  exemplified  by  the  study  of  the 
modifications  which  the  skull  undergoes  in  ascending  from 
the  lower  animals  up  to  man. 


172 


FOSSIL   KEMAJXS   OF   MAN. 


In  such  a  mammal  as  a  Beaver  (Fig.  29),  a  line  (a.  b.) 
drawn  through  the  bones,  termed  basioccipital,  basisphe- 


Deaver. 


FIG.  29. — Longitudinal  and  vertical  sections  of  the  skulls  of  a  Beaver 
(Castor  Canadensis),  a  Lemur  (L.  Catta),  and  a  Baboon  (Cynocephalus 
Papio),  a  b,  the  basicranial  axis ;  b  c,  the  occipital  plane ;  t  T,  the  tentorial 
plane ;  a  d,  the  olfactory  plane ;  /  <•,  the  basifacial  axis ;  c  b  a,  occipital 
angle ;  T  i  a,  tentorial  angle ;  d  a  b,  olfactory  angle ;  e  f  b,  cranio-facial 
angle;  g  A,  extreme  length  of  the  cavity  which  lodges  the  cerebral  hemi- 
spheres or  '  cerebral  length.'  The  length  of  the  basicranial  axis  as  to  this 
length,  or,  in  other  words,  the  proportional  length  of  the  line  g  h  to  that  of 
a  b  taken  as  100,  in  the  three  skulls,  is  as  follows : — Beaver  70  to  100 ;  Le- 


FOSSIL    REMAINS    OF   MAN.  173 

noid,  and  presphenoid,  is  very  long  in  proportion  to  the 
extreme  length  of  the  cavity  which  contains  the  cerebral 
hemispheres  (g.  /<.).  The  plane  of  the  occipital  foramen 
(b.  c.)  forms  a  slightly  acute  angle  with  this  '  basicranial 
axis,'  while  the  plane  of  the  tentorium  (*.  T.)  is  inclined 
at  rather  more  than  90°  to  the  '  basicranial  axis ' ;  and  so 
is  the  plane  of  the  perforated  plate  (a.  d.\  by  which  the* 
filaments  of  the  olfactory  nerve  leave  the  skull.  Again, 
a  line  drawn  through  the  axis  of  the  face,  between  the 
bones  called  ethmoid  and  vomer — the  ';  basifacial  axis  " 
(f.  e.)  forms  an  exceedingly  obtuse  angle,  where,  when 
produced,  it  cuts  the  '  basicranial  axis.' 

If  the  angle  made  by  the  line  b.  c.  with  a.  b.,  be  called 
the  '  occipital  angle,'  and  the  angle  made  by  the  line  a.  d. 
with  a.  b.  be  termed  the  '  olfactory  angle,'  and  that  made 
by  *'.  T.  with  a.  b.  the  '  tentorial  angle,'  then  all  these,  in 
the  mammal  in  question,  are  nearly  right  angles,  varying 
between  80°  and  110°.  The  angle  e.f.  b.,  or  that  made 
by  the  cranial  with  the  facial  axis,  and  which  may  be 
termed  the  '  cranio-facial  angle,'  is  extremely  obtuse, 
amounting,  in  the  case  of  the  Beaver,  to  at  least  150°. 

But  if  a  series  of  sections  of  mammalian  skulls,  inter- 
mediate beween  a  Rodent  and  a  Man  (Fig.  29),  be  exam- 
ined, it  will  be  found  tha^t  in  the  higher  crania  the  basi- 
cranial axis  becomes  shorter  relatively  to  the  cerebral 
length  ;  that  the  '  olfactory  angle '  and  '  occipital  angle ' 
become  more  obtuse ;  and  that  the  '  cranio-facial  angle,' 

mur  119  to  100;  Baboon  144  to  100.  In  an  adult  male  Gorilla  the  cerebral 
length  is  as  170  to  the  basicranial  axis  taken  as  100,  in  the  Negro  (fig.  30)  as 
236  to  100.  In  the  Constantinople  skull  (fig.  30)  as  266  to  100.  The  cranial 
difference  between  the  highest  Ape's  skull  and  the  lowest  Man's  is  therefore 
very  strikingly  brought  out  by  these  measurements. 

In  the  diagram  of  the  Baboon's  skull  the  dotted  lines  cPd1,  &c.  give  the 
angles  of  the  Lemur's  and  Beaver's  skull,  as  laid  down  upon  the  basicranial 
axis  of  the  Baboon.  The  line  a  b  has  the  same  length  in  each  diagram. 


174:  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF  MAN. 

becomes  more  acute  by  the  bending  down,  as  it  were,  of 
the  facial  axis  upon  the  cranial  axis.  At  the  same  time, 
the  roof  of  the  cranium  becomes  more  and  more  arched, 
to  allow  of  the  increasing  height  of  the  cerebral  hemi- 
spheres, which  is  eminently  characteristic  of  man,  as  well 
as  of  that  backward  extension,  beyond  the  cerebellum, 
which  reaches  its  maximum  in  the  South  American  mon- 
keys. So  that,  at  last,  in  the  human  skull  (Fig.  30),  the 
cerebral  length  is  between  twice  and  thrice  as  great  as 
the  length  of  the  basicranial  axis ;  the  olfactory  plane  is 
20°  or  30°  on  the  under  side  of  that  axis ;  the  occipital 
angle,  instead  of  being  less  than  90°,  is  as  much  as  150° 
or  160° ;  the  cranio-facial  angle  may  be  90°  or  less,  and 
the  vertical  height  of  the  skull  may  have  a  large  propor- 
tion to  its  length. 

It  will  be  obvious,  from  an  inspection  of  the  diagrams, 
that  the  basicranial  axis  is,  in  the  ascending  series  of 
Mammalia,  a  relatively  fixed  line,  on  which  the  bones  of 
the  sides  and  roof  of  the  cranial  cavity,  and  of  the  face, 
may  be  said  to  revolve  downwards  and  forwards  or  back- 
wards, according  to  their  position.  The  arc  described  by 
any  one  bone  or  plane,  however,  is  not  by  any  means  al- 
ways in  proportion  to  the  arc  described  by  another. 

Now  comes  the  important  question,  can  we  discern, 
between  the  lowest  and  the  highest  forms  of  the  human 
cranium,  anything  answering,  in  however  slight  a  degree, 
to  this  revolution  of  the  side  and  roof  bones  of  the  skull 
upon  the  basicranial  axis  observed  upon  so  great  a  scale 
in  the  mammalian  series  ?  Numerous  observations  lead 
me  to  believe  that  we  must  answer  this  question  in  the 
affirmative. 

The  diagrams  in  figure  30  are  reduced  from  very  care- 
fully  made  diagrams  of  sections  of  four  skulls,  two  round 
and  orthognathous,  two  long  and  prognathous,  taken  Ion- 


FOSSIL    REMAINS    OF    MAN. 


175 


gitudinally  and  vertically,  through  the  middle.  The  sec- 
tional diagrams  then  have  been  superimposed,  in  such  a 
manner,  that  the  basal  axes  of  the  skulls  coincide  by  their 
anterior  ends  and  in  their  direction.  The  deviations  of 
the  rest  of  the  contours  (which  represent  the  interior  of 


Fio.  30. — Sections  of  orthognathous  (light  contour)  and  prognatbou3  (dark 
contour)  skulls,  one-third  of  the  natural  size,  a  6,  Basicranial  axis  ;  6  c,  I'c', 
plane  of  the  occipital  foramen  ;  d  cT,  hinder  end  of  the  palatine  bone ;  «  e7, 
front  end  of  the  upper  jaw  ;  7T,  insertion  of  the  tentorium. 


176  FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF  MAN. 

the  skulls  only)  show  the  differences  of  the  skulls  from 
one  another  when  these  axes  are  regarded  as  relatively 
fixed  lines. 

The  dark  contours  are  those  of  an  Australian  and  of  a 
Negro  skull :  the  light  contours  are  those  of  a  Tartar 
skull,  in  the  Museum  of  the  Royal  College  of  Surgeons ; 
and  of  a  well  developed  round  skull  from  a  cemetery  in 
Constantinople,  of  uncertain  race,  in  my  own  possession. 

It  appears,  at  once,  from  these  views,  that  the  progna- 
thous skulls,  so  far  as  their  jaws  are  concerned,  do  really 
differ  from  the  orthognathous  in  much  the  same  way  as, 
though  to  a  far  less  degree  than,  the  skulls  of  the  lower 
mammals  differ  from  those  of  Man.  Furthermore,  the 
plane  of  the  occipital  foramen  (b  <?)  forms  a  somewhat 
smaller  angle  with  the  axis  in  these  particular  progna- 
thous skulls  than  in  the  orthognathous  ;  and  the  like  may 
be  slightly  true  of  the  perforated  plate  of  the  ethmoid — • 
though  this  point  is  not  so  clear.  But  it  is  singular  to 
remark  that,  in  another  respect,  the  prognathous  skulls 
are  less  ape-like  than  the  orthognathous,  the  cerebral 
cavity  projecting  decidedly  more  beyond  the  anterior  end 
of  the  axis  in  the  prognathous,  than  in  the  orthognathous, 
skulls. 

It  will  be  observed  that  these  diagrams  reveal  an  im- 
mense range  of  variation  in  the  capacity  and  relative  pro- 
portion to  the  cranial  axis,  of  the  different  regions  of  the 
cavity  which  contains  the  brain,  in  the  different  skulls. 
Nor  is  the  difference  in  the  extent  to  which  the  cerebral 
overlaps  the  cerebellar  cavity  less  singular.  A  round 
skull  (Fig.  30,  Const.)  may  have  a  greater  posterior  cere- 
bral projection  than  a  long  one  (Fig.  30,  Negro). 

Until  human  crania  have  been  largely  worked  out  in 
a  manner  similar  to  that  here  suggested — until  it  shall  be 
an  opprobrium  to  an  ethnological  collection  to  possess  a 


FOSSIL  REMAINS   OF   MAX.  177 

single  skull  which  is  not  bisected  longitudinally — until 
the  angles  and  measurements  here  mentioned,  together 
with  a  number  of  others  of  which  I  cannot  speak  in  this 
place,  are  determined,  and  tabulated  with  reference  to  the 
basicranial  axis  as  unity,  for  large  numbers  of  skulls  of  the 
different  races  of  Mankind,  I  do  not  think 'we  shall  have 
any  very  safe  basis  for  that  ethnological  craniology  which 
aspires  to  give  the  anatomical  characters  of  the  crania  of 
the  different  Races  of  Mankind. 

At  present,  I  believe  that  the  general  outlines  of  what 
may  be  safely  said  upon  that  subject  may  be  summed  up 
in  a  very  few  words.  Draw  a  line  on  a  globe  from  the 
Gold  Coast  in  Western  Africa  to  the  steppes  of  Tartary. 
At  the  southern  and  western  end  of  that  line  there  live 
the  most  dolichocephalic,  prognathous,  curly-haired,  dark- 
skinned  of  men — the  true  Negroes.  At  the  northern  and 
eastern  end  of  the  same  line  there  live  the  most  brachy- 
cephalic,  orthognathous,  straight-haired,  yellow-skinned 
of  men — the  Tartars  and  Calmucks.  The  two  ends  of  this 
imaginary  line  are  indeed,  so  to  speak,  ethnological  anti- 
podes. A  line  drawn  at  right  angles,  or  nearly  so,  to  this 
polar  line  through  Europe  and  Southern  Asia  to  Hindos- 
tan,  would  give  us  a  sort  of  equator,  around  which  round- 
headed,  oval-headed,  and  oblong-headed,  prognathous  and 
orthognathous,  fair  and  dark  races — but  none  possessing 
the  excessively  marked  characters  of  Calmuck  or  Negro — 
group  themselves. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  regions  of  the  antipodal 
races  are  antipodal  in  climate,  the  greatest  contrast  the 
world  affords,  perhaps,  being  that  between  the  damp,  hot, 
steaming,  alluvial  coast  plains  of  the  "West  Coast  of  Africa 
and  the  arid,  elevated  steppes  and  plateaux  of  Central 
Asia,  bitterly  cold  in  winter,  and  as  far  from  the  sea  as 
any  part  of  the  world  can  be. 
8* 


178  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN. 

From  Central  Asia  eastward  to  the  Pacific  Islands  and 
sub-continents  on  the  one  hand,  and  to  America  on  the 
other,  brachycephaly  and  orthognathism  gradually  dimin- 
ish, and  are  replaced  by  dolichocephaly  and  prognathism, 
less,  however,  on  the  American  Continent  (throughout  the 
whole  length  of  which,  a  rounded  type  of  skull  prevails 
largely,  but  not  exclusively)*  than  in  the  Pacific  region, 
where,  at  length,  on  the  Australian  Continent  and  in  the 
adjacent  islands,  the  oblong  skull,  the  projecting  jaws,  and 
the  dark  skin  reappear  ;  with  so  much  departure,  in  other 
respects,  from  the  Negro  type,  that  ethnologists  assign  to 
these  people  the  special  title  of '  Negritoes.' 

The  Australian  skull  is  remarkable  for  its  narrowness 
and  for  the  thickness  of  its  walls,  especially  in  the  region 
of  the  supraciliary  ridge,  which  is  frequently,  though  not 
by  any  means  invariably,  solid  throughout,  the  frontal 
sinuses  remaining  undeveloped.  The  nasal  depression, 
again,  is  extremely  sudden,  so  that  the  brows  overhang 
and  give  the  countenance  a  particularly  lowering,  threat- 
ening expression.  The  occipital  region  of  the  skull,  also, 
not  unfrequently  becomes  less  prominent ;  so  that  it  not 
only  fails  to  project  beyond  a  line  drawn  perpendicular  to 
the  hinder  extremity  of  the  glabello-occipital  line,  but 
even,  in  some  cases, -begins  to  shelve  away  from  it,  for- 
wards, almost  immediately.  In  consequence  of  this  cir- 
cumstance the  parts  of  the  occipital  bone  which  lie  above 
and  below  the  tuberosity  make  a  much  more  acute  angle 
with  one  another  than  is  usual,  whereby  the  hinder  part 
of  the  base  of  the  skull  appears  obliquely  truncated. 
Many  Australian  skulls  have  a  considerable  height,  quite 
equal  to  that  of  the  average  of  any  other  race,  but  there 

*  See  Dr.  D.  Wilson's  valuable  paper  "  On  the  supposed  prevalence  of 
one  Cranial  Type  throughout  the  American  aborigines." — Canadian  Journal, 
Vol.  II.  1857.  * 


FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF   MAN. 


179 


are  others  in  which  the  cranial  roof  becomes  remarkably 
depressed,  the  skull,  at  the  same  time,  elongating  so  much 
that,  probably,  its  capacity  is  not  diminished.  The  ma- 
jority of  skulls  possessing  these  characters  which  I  have 
seen,  are  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Port  Adelaide  in 
South  Australia,  and  have  been  used  by  the  natives  as 
water  vessels ;  to  which  end  the  face  has  been  knocked 
away,  and  a  string  passed  through  the  vacuity  and  the 
occipital  foramen,  so  that  the  skull  was  suspended  by  the 
greater  part  of  its  basis. 

Figure  31  represents  the  contour  of  a  skull  of  this  kind 
from  "Western  Port,  with  the  jaw  attached,  and  of  the 
Neanderthal  skull,  both  reduced  to  one  third  of  the  size 
of  nature.  A  small  additional  amount  of  flattening  and 
lengthening,  with  a  corresponding  increase  of  the  supra- 


Fio.  31. — An  Australian  skull  from  Western  Port,  in  the  Museum  of  the 
Royal  College  of  Surgeons,  with  the  contour  of  the  Neanderthal  skull.  Both 
reduced  to  one-third  the  natural  size. 


180  FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF  MAN. 

ciliary  ridge  would  convert  the  Australian  brain  case  into 
a  form  identical  with  that  of  the  aberrant  fossil. 

And  now,  to  return  to  the  fossil  skulls,  and  to  the  rank 
which  they  occupy  among,  or  beyond,  these  existing  varie- 
ties of  cranial  conformation.  In  the  first  place,  I  must 
remark,  that,  as  Professor  Schmerling  well  observed  (su- 
pra, p.  142)  in  commenting  upon  the  Engis  skull,  the 
formation  of  a  safe  judgment  upon  the  question  is  greatly 
hindered  by  the  absence  of  the  jaws  from  both  the  crania^ 
so  that  there  is  no  means  of  deciding,  with  certainty, 
whether  they  were  more  or  less  prognathous  than  the 
lower  existing  races  of  mankind.  And  yet,  as  we  have 
seen,  it  is  more  in  this  respect  than  any  other,  that  human 
skulls  vary,  towards  and  from,  the  brutal  type — the  brain 
case  of  an  average  dolichocephalic  European  differing  far 
less  from  that  of  a  Negro,  for  example,  than  his  jaws  do. 
In  the  absence  of  the  jaws,  then,  any  judgment  on  the 
relations  of  the  fossil  skulls  to  recent  Races  must  be  ac- 
cepted with  a  certain  reservation. 

But  taking  the  evidence  as  it  stands,  and  turning  first 
to  the  Engis  skull,  I  confess  I  can  find  no  character  in  the 
remains  of  that  cranium  which,  if  it  were  a  recent  skull, 
would  give  any  trustworthy  clue  as  to  the  Race  to  which 
it  might  appertain.  Its  contours  and  measurements  agree 
very  well  with  those  of  some  Australian  skulls  which  I 
have  examined — and  especially  has  it  a  tendency  towards 
that  occipital  flattening,  to  the  great  extent  of  which,  in 
some  Australian  skulls,  I  have  alluded.  But  all  Austra- 
lian skulls  do  not  present  this  flattening,  and  the  supra- 
ciliary  ridge  of  the  Engis  skull  is  quite  unlike  that  of  the 
typical  Australians. 

On  the  other  hand,  its  measurements  agree  equally 
well  with  those  of  some  European  skulls.  And  assuredly, 


FOSSIL    REMAINS    OF   MAN.  181 

there  is  no  mark  of  degradation  about  any  part  of  its 
structure.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  fair  average  human  skull,  which 
might  have  belonged  to  a  philosopher,  or  might  have  con- 
tained the  thoughtless  brains  of  a  savage. 

The  case  of  the  Neanderthal  skull  is  very  different. 
Under  whatever  aspect  we  view  this  cranium,  whether 
we  regard  its  vertical  depression,  the  enormous  thickness 
of  its  supraciliary  ridges,  its  sloping  occiput,  or  its  long 
and  straight  squamosal  suture,  we  meet  with  ape-like 
characters,  stamping  it  as  the  most  pithecoid  of  human 
crania  yet  discovered.  But  Professor  Schaaff  hausen  states 
(supra,  p.  152),  that  the  cranium,  in  its  present  condition, 
holds  1033.24:  cubic  centimetres  of  water,  or  about  63 
cubic  inches,  and  as  the  entire  skull  could  hardly  have 
held  less  than  an  additional  12  cubic  inches,  its  capacity 
may  be  estimated  at  about  75  cubic  inches,  which  is  the 
average  capacity  given  by  Morton  for  Polynesian  and 
Hottentot  skulls. 

So  large  a  mass  of  brain  as  this,  would  alone  suggest 
that  the  pithecoid  tendencies,  indicated  by  this  skull,  did 
not  extend  deep  into  the  organization  ;  and  this  conclu- 
sion is  borne  out  by  the  dimensions  of  the  other  bones  of 
the  skeleton  given  by  Professor  Schaaffhausen,  which 
show  that  the  absolute  height  and  relative  proportions  of 
the  limbs  were  quite  those  of  an  European  of  middle  stat- 
ure. The  bones  are  indeed  stouter,  but  this  and  the  great 
development  of  the  muscular  ridges  noted  by  Dr.  Schaaff- 
hausen, are  characters  to  be  expected  in  savages.  The 
Patagonians,  exposed  without  shelter  or  protection  to  a 
climate  possibly  not  very  dissimilar  from  that  of  Europe 
at  the  time  during  which  the  Neanderthal  man  lived, 
are  remarkable  for  the  stoutness  of  their  limb  bones. 

In  no  sense,  then,  can  the  Neanderthal  bones  be  re- 
garded as  the  remains  of  a  human  being  intermediate 


182 


FOSSIL   REMAINS   OF   MAN. 


between  Men  and  Apes.  At  most,  they  demonstrate  the 
existence  of  a  Man  whose  skull  may  be  said  to  revert 
somewhat  towards  the  pithecoid  type — just  as  a  Carrier, 
or  a  Pouter,  or  a  Tumbler,  may  sometimes  put  on  the 
plumage  of  its  primitive  stock,  the  Columba  lima.  And 


FIG.  32. — Ancient  Danish  skull  from  a  tumulus  at  Borreby;  one-third  of 
the  natural  size.    From  a  camera  lucida  drawing  by  Mr.  Busk. 


FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF   MAN.  183 

indeed,  though  truly  the  most  pithecoid  of  known  human 
skulls,  the  Neanderthal  cranium  is  by  no  means  so  isolated 
as  it  appears  to  be  at  first,  but  forms,  in  reality,  the  ex- 
treme term  of  a  series  leading  gradually  from  it  to  the 
highest  and  best  developed  of  human  crania.  On  the  one 
hand,  it  is  closely  approached  by  the  flattened  Australian 
skulls,  of  which  I  have  spoken,  from  which  other  Austra- 
lian forms  lead  us  gradually  up  to  skulls  having  very  much 
the  type  of  the  Engis  cranium.  And,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  is  even  more  closely  affined  to  the  skulls  of  certain  an- 
cient people  who  inhabited  Denmark  during  the  '  stone 
period,'  and  were  probably  either  contemporaneous  with, 
or  later  than,  the  makers  of  the  *  refuse  heaps,'  or  '  Kjok- 
kenmoddings '  of  that  country. 

The  correspondence  between  the  longitudinal  contour 
of  the  Neanderthal  skull  and  that  of  some  of  those  skulls 
from  the  tumuli  at  Borreby,  very  accurate  drawings  of 
which  have  been  made  by  Mr.  Bask,  is  very  close.  The 
occiput  is  quite  as  retreating,  the  supraciliary  ridges  are 
nearly  as  prominent,  and  the  skull  is  as  low.  Further- 
more, the  Borreby  skull  resembles  the  Neanderthal  form 
more  closely  than  any  of  the  Australian  skulls  do,  by  the 
much  more  rapid  retrocession  of  the  forehead.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  Borreby  skulls  are  all  somewhat  broader, 
in  proportion  to  their  length,  than  the  Neanderthal  skull, 
while  some  attain  that  proportion  of  breadth  to  length 
(80  : 100)  which  constitutes  brachycephaly. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  say,  that  the  fossil  remains  of 
Man  hitherto  discovered  do  not  seem  to  me  to  take  us  ap- 
preciably nearer  to  that  lower  pithecoid  form,  by  the 
modification  of  which  he  has,  probably,  become  what  he 
is.  And  considering  what  is  now  known  of  the  most  an- 
cient Eaces  of  men  ;  seeing  that  they  fashioned  flint  axes 


184:  FOSSIL   REMAINS    OF   MAN. 

and  flint  knives  and  bone-skewers,  of  much  the  same  pat- 
tern as  those  fabricated  by  the  lowest  savages  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  and  that  we  have  every  reason  to  believe  the 
habits  and  modes  of  living  of  such  people  to  have  re- 
mained the  same  from  the  time  of  the  Mammoth  and  the 
tichorhine  Ehinoceros  till  now,  I  do  not  know  that  this 
result  is  other  than  might  be  expected. 

Where,  then,  must  we  look  for  primaeval  Man  ?  "Was 
the  oldest  Homo  sapiens  pliocene  or  miocene,  or  yet  more 
ancient  ?  In  still  older  strata  do  the  fossilized  bones  of  an 
Ape  more  anthropoid,  or  a  Man  more  pithecoid,  than  any 
yet  known  await  the  researches  of  some  unborn  paleon- 
tologist ? 

Time  will  show.  But,  in  the  meanwhile,  if  any  form 
of  the  doctrine  of  progressive  development  is  correct,  we 
must  extend  by  long  epochs  the  most  liberal  estimate  that 
has  yet  been  made  of  the  antiquity  of  Man. 


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THE  MAN  versus  THE  STATE : 

Containing  "THE  NEW  TORYISM,"  "THE  COMINO  SLAVBBY,"  "THE  SINS  OF  LEGIS- 
LATORS," and  "Tas  GEEAT  POLITICAL  SUPERSTITION."  Eeprinted  from  "The 
Popular  Science  Monthly,"  with  a  Postscript.  Small  8vo.  Paper,  80  cents. 

SOCIAL  STATICS; 

Or,  the  Conditions  essential  to  Human  Happiness  Specified,  and  the  First  of  Them 
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ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  UNIVERSAL  PROGRESS. 

12mo.    Cloth,  $2.00. 

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— his  wide  grasp  of  facts — his  lucid  and  vigorous  style,  and  the  constant  and  controlling 
bearing  of  the  discussion  on  practical  results.  These  traits  characterize  all  Mr.  Spen- 
cer's writings,  and  mark  in  an  eminent  degree  the  present  volume."— N.  Y.  Tribune. 

ESSAYS :  Moral,  Political,  and  .Esthetic. 

12mo.     Cloth,  $2.00. 

"These  essays  form  a  new  and,  if  we  are  not  mistaken,  a  most  popular  installment 
of  the  intellectual  benefactions  of  that  earnest  writer  and  profound  philosopher,  Her- 
bert Spencer.  There  is  a  remarkable  union  of  the  speculative  and  practical  in  these 
papers.  They  are  the  fruit  of  studies  alike  economical  and  psychological;  they  touch 
the  problems  of  the  passing  hour,  and  they  grasp  truths  of  universal  application ;  they 
will  be  found  as  instructive  to  the  general  reader  as  interesting  to  political  and  social 
students." — Boston  Transcript. 

THE  STUDY  OF  SOCIOLOGY. 

12mo.    Cloth,  $1.50. 

RECENT   DISCUSSIONS    IN    SCIENCE,   PHILOSOPHY, 
AND  MORALS. 

12mo.    Cloth,  $2.00. 

EDUCATION:  Intellectual,  Moral,  and  Physical 

12mo.    Cloth,  $1.25;  cheap  edition,  paper,  50  cents. 

PHILOSOPHY  OF  STYLE. 

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For  talc  by  all  booksellers;  or  sent  by  mail,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  price. 


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p 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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